Games for sale:

[Paul Cho]

Blood & Magic $25.00 US
M.A.X. $25.00 US
Jagged Alliance $25.00 US
Civilization 2 $30.00 US
Master of Orion 2 $30.00 US
Heros of Might/Magic 2 $30.00 US

All games include the original manuals/CDs etc in mint condition
(I've thrown away most of the boxes except for Heroes and maybe Civ)

You're responsible for any shipping and handling charges that might
incurr, or if you live locally in Silicon Valley we can work something out.

please send all responses to:

stay...@netcom.com
OR
p.c.@ix.netcom.com (after Jan. 31)

thanks,
Paul

[Re...@the.faq]

On Mon, 13 Jan 1997 18:36:03 GMT, stay...@netcom.com (Paul Cho) gave
us this view on Games for sale::

You have not read the FAQ for this NG, or you would not have posted
this post here. Read the FAQ

Welcome to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic, and the c.s.i.p.g.s
Frequently Asked Questions!

INDEX
Needed, I know!

INTRODUCTION
ABOUT THIS FAQ
Version - Part 1, Beta 3, released 30/Nov/96.
Changes over Beta 2 : More tweaks to this section. Still no index yet
- it will happen. I figure that at the start of the academic year it
is better to make sure there's always a copy of the FAQ fairly
recently available than to hold off until it's perfect. Most of the
work has gone in adding to Part 2, including finalising all the games
so far included in A-G

Copyright 1996 Alastair Ainslie (ain...@cloud9.u-net.com). All
rights reserved.
Not for commercial redistribution or for any kind of use by bodies
corporate without my explicit permission. Distribution on *personal*
webpages only is fine, just let me know. To be transmitted as two
parts only, complete and without alteration.
All trademarks and other rights acknowledged.
All suggestions welcomed, all flames ignored.

This is part one of the Frequently Asked Questions for the
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic newsgroup, dealing with general
issues. Part two contains a list of the games discussed in
c.s.i.p.g.s, along with references to homepages, patches, demos etc.

The traffic on c.s.i.p.g.s has reached almost unmanageable proportions
and can only get worse as some long-awaited games are released
(hopefully!) in the run-up to Christmas 1996 (watch it become
c.s.i.p.g.MOO2..). I wrote this FAQ in attempt to answer the "where
can I..." and "how do I..." questions in the group, as well as
suggesting how traffic can be reduced by the appropriate use of email
and other newsgroups. This should increase the proportion of talk
about *playing* strategy games, which after all, is what this group is
really about!

AVAILABILITY OF THIS FAQ
Whilst it is in beta, I will post it to c.s.i.p.g.s for discussion -
one more, in about a fortnight, should do it. Thereafter I will post
it to comp.binaries.ibm.pc until I get it OK'd for news.answers, with
a brief note to c.s.i.p.g.s when I do so. I also intend to get it up
on my web site, as a zipfile, and, later, as HTML. Once that's done,
I'll post regular reminders to the group as to where to find it.

HISTORY & PURPOSE
(Whilst we're talking about history, I have seen a link to a previous
FAQ for this group at rtfm.mit, but have never seen this FAQ in my
time on the group. Anyone care to send me a copy?)
First, the c.s.i.p.g.s charter (available from the Usenet charter site
at
ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/control/comp/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic.Z
):

"This unmoderated group is for the discussion of strategy games.
Strategy games usually involve complex manipulation of game resources
in many different ways, which directly affects the progress and
outcome of the game. Also included within this description are
wargames, which often invlove similar strategic planning operations.
Examples include Civilization, SimCity, and Castles."

For the history of comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (hereafter referred
to as c.s.i.p.g.s), I can do no better than quote from the
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games FAQ
(http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/pcfaq/pcgfaq1.html) by Michael Wang
(mmw...@mv.us.adobe.com) :

>How did the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games groups come to exist?
>(From: Christina Warren)
>The group comp.sys.ibm.pc.games (csipg for short) arose out of
>rec.games.misc. For some time, that group had been dominated by discussions
>of MS-DOS games. This proved confusing to new readers, and tended to starve
>out non MS-DOS game and non-computer game oriented traffic. Therefore a new
>group for PC games was created in May 1992 called comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.
>This group became so very popular that it was split into 7 [now 9, see below - AA] subgroups in >May 1993.

>What are the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games groups for?
>(From: Christina Warren)
>The purpose of these groups is to provide a forum for the discussion of
>games for the IBM PC and compatible machines. This is not just limited to
>MS-DOS, but extends to OS/2, Windows and anything else that can run on an
>IBM PC compatible machine.

Here in c.s.i.p.g.s we discuss strategy games that fall into the above
category. My dictionary (Shorter OED) defines strategy thus:
'The art of a commander-in-chief; the art of projecting and directing
the larger military movements of a campaign 1810. b. An instance or
species of this 1833.
"Strategy differs materially from tactic (sic); the latter belonging
only to the mechanical movement of bodies, set in motion by the
former" 1810.'

Strategy games require you to take a big picture rather than get too
involved at the level of individual units. These games generally
involve building up resources (food, weapons, money, technology) to
allow you to defeat other sides controlled by the computer or other
people. Usually, victory is achieved militarily but can be economic
(Railroad Tycoon etc.).
Examples of the games we like to talk about include :
Age of Rifles, Capitalism, Civilisation 1 and 2, Close Combat, Command
and Conquer, Jagged Alliance, Master of Orion, Panzer General,
Warcraft 2, XCOM 1 & 2.
The likes of Harpoon, Carriers at War etc. have been discussed here in
the past, but a c.s.i.p.g.naval group was created in Sept 96, and all
discussion of such games belongs there. If you don't get it -
encourage your ISP to add it to your news server. Some of the games
mentioned above have their own newsgroups, which will obviously be
much less congested and more relevant. On the other hand, not
everyone gets all newsgroups (especially alt.* ones), so if it's a PC
strategy game, you can talk about it here.
At any one time there tends to be half-a-dozen games that are talked
about a lot, so we have de facto subgroups within c.s.i.p.g.s who
preface all their subject lines with an abbreviation for their game -
'MOO' for Master of Orion, Civ2 for Civilization II and so on - see
part 2 for a list. This makes it easier for everyone, as sorting
alphabetically by subject lines brings all the posts about one game
together, so you can ignore posts about games you're not interested
in. Conversely, if you post a question without adhering to this
convention, people will probably miss your post altogether. This is
better than creating new groups for every game that comes along, as
most can support discussion for maybe three months, and then the
threads die out (e.g. Afterlife was possibly generating the most
traffic of all in May/June 1996, but by September there was nothing).
Anyway, I'll kick off with a few useful Web sites and then give some
things to consider before posting to c.s.i.p.g.s.

USEFUL SITES ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB
GENERAL
For brief, weekly reviews of the happenings in c.s.i.p.g.s, I
recommend
http://www.gamepen.com/therapy/pc.strategic/
If you want a previous article from c.s.i.p.g.s, go to DejaNews :
http://www.dejanews.com/
To find out the top 100 most popular games of the moment (not just
strategy games)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jojo/pcgames.html
If you're interested in the usage stats for the group (why???) go to :

http://sunsite.unc.edu/usenet-i/groups-html/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic.html

WHERE ARE SOME GOOD GAMES SITES?
For news, reviews, demos, patches, FAQs, cheats etc. :
Gamesdomain and its mirrors are excellent ( and it's this side of the
pond!)
http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk
http://www.gamesdomain.com
http://www.gamesdomain.ru
Online Games Review is equally good - they can have patches before a
company site!
http://www.ogr.com/features.html
HappyPuppy tends not to be quite as up-to-date as some sites, but for
anything more than a few weeks old it's very comprehensive:
http://www.happypuppy.com
The big sites for wargamers are :
http://grognard.com/
http://www.JointChiefsPub.com/ [Department of War]
http://www.wargamer.com/
General strategy game sites include, in no particular order :
http://www.cdmag.com/strategy_games/day.html
http://www.cnet.com/Gamecenter/
http://www.game-over.co.uk
http://www.gamepen.com/cradle/strategy_action/
http://www.gamespot.com/strategy/
http://www.nuke.com
http://www.pcgamer.com/main.html
http://www.monash.edu.au/~cjboa1/
? http//www.internet-now.com

WHERE CAN I FIND THE WEBSITE OF THIS COMPANY ...?
I've tried to include the URL of any 'official' home page for a game
in Part 2. In general, a company's homepage will take the form :
http://www.<name>.com
For example, http://www.microprose.com takes you to Microprose.
Incidentally, Netscape 3 will automatically try to add the correct
http and .com bits if you just enter a company name in the URL field.
A few of the 'non obvious' URLs include :
SSI http://www.ssionline.com
Interactive Magic http://www.imagicgames.com
Sirtech http://www.sir-tech.com (note the dash)
Don't forget that some companies producing great games aren't even
from the US <gasp>!
Bullfrog http://www.bullfrog.co.uk
Strat. Studies Group http://www.ssg.com.au/
Any others?
A site which seems to have a fairly comprehensive list is :
http://www.melis.com/gamesplace/gamecomp.html
Often, you are better off browsing the web pages of the developer,
who actually writes the program, rather than the publisher, who
markets the game - typically a multinational who is more interested in
shifting boxes than in their contents.

WHERE CAN I FIND WEB SITES ABOUT ...?
For a pretty good list, first try :

http://www.yahoo.com/Recreation/Games/Computer_Games/Genres/Strategy/Titles/
For one that is less up to date :

http://weblab.research.att.com/phoaks/comp/sys/ibm/pc/games/strategic/
If these don't turn up anything, go to Altavista :
http://www.altavista.digital.com/
and enter the name of the game (enclosing it in quotes if more than
one word)

WHERE CAN I FIND A REVIEW OF ...?
In no particular order :
Gaming Grid http://www.arcadiamag.com/grid/g_index.htm
http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/gdreview/stridx.html
http://www.gamepen.com/softwarepen/pc/index.html
Digital entertainment on-line - not great
http://www.axionet.com/deol/deol/simulate.htm

OS/2 e-Zine :http://www.haligonian.com/os2/
Coming sonn magazine http://www.megatoon.com/~t15/pcall.htm
All about games http://www.nexi.com/aag
http://www.next-generation.com/reviews/pc.html
http://www.pcgamer.com/main.html
http://www.allgames.com/

WHERE CAN I FIND THE FAQ FOR ...?
Where I've found one, I've listed a FAQ site for each game in Part 2
of this FAQ (posted separately). If that doesn't work, try:
http://www.nexi.com/aag
http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/games.html
More generally, a good place to find FAQs is the news.answers archive
at
http://www.cs.ruu.nl/cgi-bin/faqwais
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/
in particular the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games FAQ :
http://www.cs.ruu.nl/wais/html/na-bng/comp.sys.ibm.pc.html

WHERE CAN I FIND CHEATS FOR ...?
Happy Puppy (see above) is pretty good; for the main cheat
collections, go to
http://wwwedu.cs.utwente.nl/~achterka/
One of these is Dirty Little Helper:
ftp://ftp.inf.tu-dresden.de/pub/ms-dos/games/utility/dlh/

WHEN IS ... COMING OUT?
In theory, official announcements are made in the moderated group
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.announce
However this seems to be moribund, so..
For the inside information, READ C.S.I.P.G.S (!) and check the games
sites above - presumably Coming soon would be the place to start. In
general there's no shortage of information about games companies'
plans, although quantity does not mean quality. I've tried to include
some projected release dates in Part 2, but be warned - we are used to
delays of 6 months or more. Part of the trouble is that people take
as gospel what the programmer considers as a rough guesstimate. It'd
be much better if programmers didn't put out release dates at all
until the thing was in the bag and mastered, but they surrender to
outside pressures (like people in csipgs!) to give some idea of
release date when they can't possibly know. In general, mid-November
is a popular date, so that the game's out for Thanksgiving weekend in
the USA. Please read the newsgroup before posting this sort of
question - the 'When's MOO2 out?" posts have outnumbered the "Make
money fast" posts these last few months.

WHEN IS THANKSGIVING?
In the USA, it's the fourth Thursday in November. It's important in
this context because it is the major weekend for shopping in that
country, and marks the start of the commercial Christmas season.
Since a substantial part of game companies' turnover happens in the
run-up to Christmas, getting the game out for Thanksgiving is seen as
essential for sales in the USA, and the rest of the world just has to
put up with it.

WHERE CAN I FIND THIS GAME ...?
1. Adverts in magazines are usually the best place to buy games - use
a credit-card.
2. Computer shops, if you can't wait and don't mind paying extra.
Try a retailer's website for information :
Chips & Bits : http://www.cdmag.com./chips.html
(will check this out)
Or for the full local gen, try _talking_ to a real person at your
local branch. This is far more appropriate than using Usenet to ask
people from Santiago to Siberia where you can find a game in Seattle.
You've got to take future delivery dates with a pinch of salt, but you
should be able to establish if they've got a game on the shelves.
In Part 2, I've have tried to list a site where you can find a demo or
shareware version of each game. If none is listed, one might not
exist, or you could try the company's website, or OGR (see above).
Beware, a lot of strategy game demos weigh in at 10-20Mb these days.
(thought - what's the record? You do hear of 60-70Mb monsters.)

Oh, so you mean you want a copy of a game but don't want to pay for it
although you should? You should have said. I suggest :
http://www.bsa.org/piracy/piralaw.html
I _know_ a lot of ISPs (read: most universities) forbid access to the
.warez groups (although this won't be a problem for anyone serious).
However, this doesn't mean you should post in c.s.i.p.g.s requests
that belong there. The legal and moral issues aside, it's stupid
because of the large number of strategy game authors in this audience.
I'm sure they'll be keen to give a personal response to your request
for their work.

WHERE CAN I FIND THE PATCH FOR ...?
I've tried to list the latest patch version and where to find it for
each game in Part 2. Failing that, try the publisher's website, or
one of the general games sites above. If you know the filename of the
patch, look it up in Altavista (above) or :
http://ftpsearch.ntnu.no/ftpsearch
A prettier, much slower front end for ftpsearch can be found at :
http://www.filez.com

CAN I PLAY ... OVER THE INTERNET?
The traditional way was to play by email (PBEM), an extension of
traditional Play By Mail (PBM) games. For PBEM opponents, go to the
rec.games.pbm group.
Some of the very latest games incorporate built in support for
Winsock, but most rely on software that emulates the Novell protocol
IPX over the 'Net, which uses the TCP/IP protocol. Even if the game
supports IPX, it may need patching to allow play over such a system
(e.g. Warcraft 2 v1.2). There are various websites (listed under the
games in Part 2) that allow you to challenge people at a particular
game; alternatively, you can pay to join one of the gaming networks.
There are several of these :
Kali http://www.axxis.com/kali/ and alt.games.kali
TEN http://www.ten.net/Home.html
Mplayer http://www.mplayer.com/about/about-faq.html
GameLAN http://www.apexxtech.com/html/gamelan.html
Kahn ??? in beta
battle.net ??? in beta and free? but only Blizzard games.
In the UK, try E-ON and Wireplay (British Telecom's effort)
Of these Kali is much the most popular, and in less than a year has
revolutionised multiplayer gaming. It's popularity stems from its
one-off $20 joining fee, and its size - 40,000 users and 150 servers
in 23 countries (although these figures are probably out of date). It
also supports a wide variety of games including Command & Conquer,
Cyberstorm, Deadlock, Mechwarrior 2, and Warcraft 1 & 2, as well as
the ubiquitous Dooke Quakent and others. It runs under DOS, OS/2,
Windows and on Macs, and is a doddle to setup. You can't go wrong!

TEN only has Command & Conquer, Panzer General, and Warcraft to
interest c.s.i.p.g.s readers. It is restricted to Canada and the USA.
PC only.
Hourly plan (5 hours free) prices: $9.95/month and $1.95/hr. +
$0.95/hr for local call access.
Flat rate plan (unlimited) prices: $29.95 /month +
$0.95/hr for local call access.
(from http://www.ten.net/faq/ten whatis.htm on 7th Oct 96)
These prices (but not the local call access) are halved for the first
25,000 who join. They are trying to develop into a full Internet
provider - the deal with the extra 95c/hour for 'extra fast' local
access is the start of this. Looks very expensive, but they seem to
be rapidly reducing their prices - perhaps someone told them about
Kali?
Mplayer is also restricted to Canada and the USA and can offer Command
& Conquer, MechWarrior 2, and Warcraft.

WHAT'S SID MEIER UP TO THESE DAYS?
One of the giants of computer strategy gaming, Sid Meier was a
co-founder of Microprose, and in his time has brought us F15 Strike
Eagle, F19 Stealth Fighter, Pirates!, Railroad Tycoon, Civilization
and Colonization. In the summer of 1996 Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs
(producer of Civ among others) and Brian Reynolds (who wrote 'Sid
Meier's Civilization 2') left Microprose to set up a new company,
Firaxis. They're (sensibly) keeping very quiet about what they're up
to, but given the typical 18 months development required for an
average game, it wouldn't surprise me to see something coming our way
in time for Christmas 1997. They've signed a distribution deal with
Electronic Arts to publish under the Origin name. For the latest
news, go to
http://www.firaxis.com/

HOW CAN I SLOW DOWN MY PC?
Various solutions to this problem, not all published by Microsoft <g>,
are listed on :
http://members.aol.com/lostdrag0n/index.html

WHY DOESN'T THIS *&^*@#! GAME WORK?
A few specific issues are addressed in the following sections. In
general, though
1. Consult the documentation that came with the game (a.k.a. RTFM)
2. Consult any *.TXT files or README-type files in the game
directory
3. Consult a FAQ for the game - see part 2 of this FAQ
4. Consult a FAQ for your hardware - start with the
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware and c.s.i.p.soundcard FAQs at the
news.answers archive (see above). Your manufacturer may have one at
their website - find this at
http://www.computek.net/public/phelps/drivers.html
5. Check the newsgroup to see if any other people have had/ solved
problems
6. Especially if the game is old, check Dejanews (see above)

Things you can do to help yourself :
1. Try a DOS game in full DOS mode instead of a Windows box (or
viceversa)
2. If the game will tolerate it, try your system with the minimum
drivers loaded -
no sound, no network, no special video drivers (just plain VGA)
3. If this cures the problem, try your system with the versions of
the drivers
that came with Windows (Diamond in particular had a particular
problem with
update drivers for Win 95, and some S3 update ones don't like
Energy Star)
4. Upgrade your drivers to the latest versions - see your
manufacturer's website

From consulting part 2 of this FAQ or another source, you will
hopefully know what the latest version of your game is and be able to
find a patch if necessary.
Note that some patches cause more problems than they fix, and some may
not be worth downloading because they make changes to bits which don't
affect you (e.g. Civ2 patch 1.11a tweaked 'German and French language
support', presumably after complaints about the translations)

HOW DO I GET THIS GAME TO WORK OFF THE HARD DRIVE WITHOUT THE CD?
There are several programs that allow you to do this on laptops etc.
Fakecd is the best known - search for it.

WHY DOESN'T MY CD-ROM DRIVE WORK PROPERLY WITH THIS GAME?
A lot of modern games need the latest version of MSCDEX, v 2.23 from :
http://www.microsoft.com/kb/softlib/mslfiles/mscdx223.exe

WHY DOESN'T MY MOUSE WORK WITH THIS GAME?
Make sure your mouse drivers are up to date, and avoid MS mouse driver
v8.02 like the plague!

HOW DO I MAKE MORE MEMORY AVAILABLE TO MY DOS GAME?
I hate to encourage further clogging of ftp.microprose.com, but go to
:
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/help/memhelp.txt
For help making a boot disk in MS-DOS 6.2 (substitute 50 or 60 for DOS
5.0 or 6.0)
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/help/boot62.txt
For help making a MS-DOS 6.0 bootdisk with a CD-ROM :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/help/bootcd.txt

HOW DO I GET A DOS GAME TO WORK WITH WINDOWS 3.X/ WINDOWS 95?
Hidden away on the Windows 95 CD is the Resource Kit, an excellent
source of technical information about Win95. You'll find it in
D:\ADMIN\RESKIT\HELPFILE\WIN95RK.HLP or on the MS website if your
Win95 came without the CD. Look for MS-DOS in the Index, and it will
tell you how to set up Win95 for DOS games, and how to make a boot
disk.
Also, check out the various .TXT files in the Windows directory of
your hard drive.
I found this Microsoft KnowledgeBase article (Q134400), which
presumably can be found on www.microsoft.com and in the Resource Kit :
http://www.dynawell.ch/products/ms/w95/tips/dosprg.html
Also try
http://www.usafe.af.mil/csssi/BlackMagic/win95-faq.html#4.1
http://www.accessone.com/~brianl/cmem.htm

WHY DOESN'T MY GAME RUN IN WINDOWS NT?
Don't expect games to work in NT, but obviously if you can get a game
to work, you gain all the stability advantages. 3.51 doesn't support
things like DirectX, 4.0 does. Probably just a matter of time, for
the games to become 32 bit (increasing trend), and NT to support some
of MS's key gaming technologies. Meanwhile, your best bet is a Win95
dual boot system.

WHY DO I GET A GPF AT ...?
An easily comprehensible explanation of GPFs can be found in Borland
Technical Information sheet TI2775 - look for it at
http://www.borland.com A more detailed approach is taken in the MS
KnowledgeBase article WW0524: Troubleshooting GP Faults (UAEs) - look
for it at http://www.microsoft.com You will probably have to put up
with the odd GPF (not that it's right you should have to, but then,
that's life). However when the GPF seems to happen consistently, you
can do something about it. An easy thing to check for is file
corruption - run CHKDSK, Norton Utilities, or SCANDISK etc. (Windows
95 - right click on your hard disk icon, then Properties|Tools|Check
Now).
If that doesn't cure it, GPFs in the following Windows files usually
have consistent causes :

GDI.EXE Low system resources - increase your swapfile size and
have fewer other programs
running next time! Can be caused by having a big item
in the Clipboard.
KRNL386.EXE Expanded memory problems - restarting with WIN /D:x
should cure the
problem; if so, put EMMExclude=A000-FFFF in the [386
Enh] section of
SYSTEM.INI or exclude just the area that causes the
problem
USER.EXE May indicate a problem with application's *.INI file.
Back it up &
delete it(the .INI that is!), and see if the problem
sorts itself out.

*.DRV or *.DLL Generally a video driver or similar problem. If it's
not immediately obvious what device uses the file, see what directory
it's in. See comments above on troubleshooting Windows drivers.
If the GPF is in a file obviously related to the game, make sure you
have the latest patch, or go back to the original version of the game.

IS WINDOWS 95 CAUSING A PROBLEM?
Oooh, where do I start? No seriously, Win95 is generally a much
better environment for DOS games than Windows 3.x. However, make sure
you have the latest version, 4.00.950a - you can upgrade the earlier
4.00.950 by applying ServicePack 1, available from the Microsoft
website and ftp sites around the world. Among other things it
upgrades SAGE.DLL from MS Plus! - you might try unloading System Agent
to see if it's causing a problem. Subsequent 'new technology' (ie
patches) include an update to KERNEL32 to prevent memory leakage when
using Winsock (ie the 'Net). All these are available from
www.microsoft.com
The only problem I've noticed with running in a DOS box is that some
of the video music in Worms stutters - more generally, choosing the
'no sound' option in a game often helps.
See above for configuring DOS sessions in Windows 95.

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE POSTING?
1. Have some idea of Usenet conventions and Netiquette - I
recommend both of these:
http://scwww.ucs.indiana.edu/NetRsc/usenet.html
http://www.deepwell.com/netfaq.html [or search for RFC 1855]
2. Read the newsgroup! At least for a few weeks to get a feel for
what it's about. Some Netiquette guides suggest three months, which
is probably excessive. Long-term residents of the group can get
increasingly annoyed with posts that take no account of other traffic
- make sure it's not you that they take it out on!
3. If you have a problem, try checking any appropriate FAQs (like
this one!). If too many easily answerable questions are asked, people
capable of answering the tough ones will lose interest in the group,
which will be a loss for all of us. Also try some of the steps I've
outlined above, such as trying different drivers and consulting
DejaNews.
4. Similarly, if you're looking for reviews, patches, demos,
cheats etc for a game, try the sites listed above or in Part 2.
5. If you've only got email and Usenet facilities, and want
something off the Web, you can do almost everything by email without
asking for it here. Send a message to
(errrm, got the address somewhere, have to look it up)
5. Think: does my post have to be propagated on news servers from
Vladivostok to Windhoek? If not, use email instead, it's a lot more
efficient. Many posts on c.s.i.p.g.s should really be emailed, such
as 'me too's requesting information or saying 'I agree'. We also
don't want people conducting surveys in the newsgroup - get people to
email you, then consolidate the results and post the short version
instead. Setting "Followup-to:" to your email address will facilitate
this. Email is less subject to the Usenet delay - some posts can take
10 days to propagate through the Internet.
6. Consider whether c.s.i.p.g.s is the appropriate group to post
to (see below)

WHAT POSTS ARE INAPPROPRIATE?
1. 'test' posts
Your ISP will have a special newsgroup for this, for example aol.test
or cern.test If you can't find this, go to alt.test Conversely make
sure your setup is working - I embarassed myself when I upgraded my
news reader to the 32 bit version and found that it was posting the
same file every time I closed down <blush>.

2. Spam.
Spam is "the same article (or essentially the same article) posted
an unacceptably high number of times to one or more newsgroups."
CONTENT IS IRRELEVANT. If you *must* cross-post, set the followups to
a single appropriate group by adding a header line like:
Followup-to: group.name.here
or to your email address as above.
(taken from the news.admin.net-abuse FAQ - I strongly recommend you
get a copy from n.a.n-a or
http://www.cybernothing.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq.html )
If you want to respond to crossposted messages, do so by email or make
sure you post ONLY in the appropriate newsgroup, by editing the to:
header. NEVER follow up spam complaining about it, which only
compounds the problem. IGNORE it. If you want to complain about it,
do so to to the originator or the postmaster@<the spammers host>
including the article ID, and the first paragraph of the post. If the
return address is false, track it down with the help of the alt.spam
FAQ :
http://digital.net/~gandalf/spamfaq.html

3. '$$$ MAKE.MONEY.FAST' schemes
A particularly pernicious form of spam. Several problems :
a) They have nothing to do with strategy games on the IBM PC and
compatibles.
b) Such pyramid schemes are illegal in most countries.
c) These posts get cancelled as soon as the folks in
news.admin.net-abuse find them.
d) They rely on there being an infinite number of people in the
Universe, all of whom are going to send money to strangers the next
step up in the pyramid.
e) As a result, they don't work.
f) No, they really don't work.
This is one type of spam where I would *encourage* people to complain
to the postmaster of the spammer. This will lead to the final reason
not to post such schemes :
g) You'll lose your Internet account

4. Trolls
Not the creatures that live under bridges, but deliberately
inflammatory posts designed to fill a group with irrelevant responses.
Typical ones include 'you're all so sad' - leading to a bundle of
justifications by people who don't think they're sad; 'Game X sucks' -
so all the fans of Game X reply 'no it's not'; and 'I have [a
fictional] Game X', typically the sequel to a bestseller, so all the
fans start asking questions about it. DO NOT followup to such posts -
it only fills the group with rubbish. If you must reply, email the
peron directly. Don't believe anything you see about a forthcoming
game until it is independently verified or the person provides a
checkable source for the information. If necessary, email them for
further information. If the email address is false, so is the info.

5. Binaries and other long files
It's much better to post a pointer to an ftp site or Web site where
binaries can be found. In any case, binaries in c.s.i.p.g.s of more
than ~100kb will get BINCANCELed. If you really can't find a host
site, post the binary to comp.ibm.pc.binaries and post to c.s.i.p.g.s
saying you've done so. If the binary relates to a particular game (a
scenario or game editor for example) then get in touch with the
maintainer of any web pages for that game; they will normally be
delighted to receive such files and put them on their site. Don't
send the binary until they ask for it, as big files can really muck up
some people's email.
A word of warning - make sure people are aware of the intellectual
property status of such binaries - freeware, shareware, etc. In
particular I advise having a line about not for commercial
redistribution without your explicit permission. In theory the Berne
Convention says that you have copyright without the need for words
such as 'Copyright 19xx by xxxxxx', but some people get a little
forgetful and it doesn't hurt to remind them....
Likewise for long documents such as FAQs, a pointer is better than the
whole thing. For FAQs the newsgroup to post to is news.answers (I
know this is being posted to c.s.i.p.g.s whilst it is being developed,
but the final version will go to news.answers and be on a web page,
first as a zip file and then as HTML once I get round to it...)

6. Flames
Don't post flames to c.s.i.p.g.s - email them or go to alt.flame.*
(making sure you change the followup to: line!) People around the
world come here to read about strategy games, not your petty
name-calling, no matter how finely honed your taunts.
Particularly sad are criticisms of the spelling of people whose first
language is not English. Before you rush over to alt.flame.spelling,
consider how you'd get on in a foreign language. The Internet is
truly international - USA connections fell into the minority some time
ago, so please bear this in mind. Thought - are there more English
speakers (albeit not mother tongue) in Europe or the USA?
In particular, some people post deliberately inflammatory flamebait
(qv trolls), in the knowledge that even normally placid people will
repsond to it. Again, IGNORE IT!!

WHAT POSTS BELONG IN OTHER NEWSGROUPS ?
If your ISP doesn't carry the recommended newsgroup - you'll just have
to go without.

1. Operating system wars
A popular form of flame war, generating much heat and no light. An
example :

Unix/ OS/2 / Macs/ Amigas/ CBM Pets/ Colossus/ Babbage's Difference
Engine are
much better than M$ Windoze. No they're not. Yes they are. No
they're not. Yes they are.

Do not join these tedious threads unless you have more than an opinion
to offer, and in any case, take the discussion to an appropriate group
such as:
alt.flame.ms-windows
comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
comp.os.linux.advocacy
comp.os.os2.advocacy
comp.sys.*.advocacy - insert Acorn, Amiga, Atari, Mac, NEXT or
Powerpc as appropriate

A variety of this is the 'Bill Gates is the spawn of Satan'-type
thread. These belong in alt.fan.bill-gates or alt.destroy.microsoft;
alternatively, shut up and buy a copy of Afterlife!
Another variety is peripheral wars - tussle with the experts in
comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.advocacy
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video

2. Warez and piracy postings
See "Where can I find this game...?" above.
Periodically we get crossposted debates about the morality of software
piracy. They don't belong here, but I'm not sure what group is
appropriate for the two camps to clash in - you'll find the
intellectual property people in misc.int-property
Please bite your lip and let these tired old threads die. If you must
contribute, use email or at least cut down the number of groups they
are crossposted to - c.s.i.p.g.misc is the best group I can suggest,
although they won't thank me for it. Any better ideas?
You can find the anti-piracy hotline number for your country at:
http://www.bsa.org/info/hotline.html

3. Games for sale/ to buy/ to trade
There is a separate newsgroup for these posts. Maximise your
market by going to :
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.marketplace

4. Posts about non-strategy games
I know modern games blur the boundaries between conventional
categories. If you're not certain where to post, LOOK IN THE
NEWSGROUPS to see where the most posts about a game are to be found.
Part 2 of this FAQ lists some of the games most commonly discussed in
c.s.i.p.g.s, but is by no means comprehensive nor exclusive. In
particular, naval games such as Harpoon and submarine simulations have
traditionally been discussed here, but all postings about such games
should now be directed to the newly created c.s.i.p.g.naval. The
other c.s.i.p.g groups are :
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.sports
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.announce is a moderated group of
announcements of games, patches etc.
If you're none the wiser, try to decide if your game requires strategy
as defined at the top of this FAQ. If so, post in c.s.i.p.g.s;
otherwise, your best bet is c.s.i.p.g.misc
A classic example of this are the Maxis Sim 'toys', which for me lack
the essential element of competition found in strategy games. Sure,
they involve using a PC for long-term planning and resource
management, with a dash of creativity, but then, so does doing the
accounts! C.s.i.p.g.misc would be a better place to post about such
games, although we won't mind posts about such games in c.s.i.p.g.s.

5. Computer setup matters not exclusively relating to strategy games.
Posts such as 'My CD drive emits purple smoke when I insert the
Warcraft 2 CD' belong in c.s.i.p.g.s Posts such as 'My CD drive emits
purple smoke when I insert a CD' belong in groups such as
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.*
comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware
comp.os.msdos.*
comp.os.ms-windows.setup.*
comp.os.ms-windows.win95.*
comp.os.ms-windows.nt.setup.*
comp.os.ms-windows.video
comp.os.os2.setup.*
comp.os.linux.setup
Again, check out the appropriate group and read its FAQ before posting
there!

6. Technical matters not exclusively relating to strategy games.
Examples are DirectX or the technical details of sound files. These
threads often stray into .advocacy territory; at any rate the
opinion:fact ratio tends to be high. There are many experts out
there; unfortunately most of them are in other newsgroups. Please
folks, go to the appropriate newsgroup or continue by email. Some
people in the c.s.i.p.g.s may be interested in such issues, but it is
still not the most appropriate group to _discuss_ such matters.
However, it might be worth posting websites where those interested can
find out some FACTS, and I will incorporate the best of these in
future versions of this FAQ. Likewise, we might be interested in a
_summary_ of such discussions.

7. 'De rerum natura' no longer relating to any strategy game
Talking about strategy games often turns to discussing aspects of
history, politics and economics. While these add considerably to the
charm of c.s.i.p.g.s, they do suffer from the participants not knowing
as much as they make out (in the sense that lots of 'facts' are wrong.
Admitting your ignorance and asking for information is fine, trying to
hide your ignorance is a pain in the neck). Moreover, these threads
tend to wander wildly off-topic. Please try to relate them to
strategy games if you're posting in this group, otherwise use email or
post elsewhere. So, might I suggest a few guidelines for this kind of
thread :
a) Use email if appropriate
b) Post facts, not opinions - references to websites etc. are even
better. DON'T FLAME!
c) Check your facts _before_ posting and tell us your sources.
d) Try to keep the thread relevant to a strategy game.
e) If the subject strays from strategy games, at least change the
subject line, and preferably go to a more appropriate group such as :
alt.history.what-if, alt.war.*, soc.history.war.*,
alt.politics.*, soc.politics.*, talk.politics.*
and prepare to be embarassed!
Furthermore, consulting the FAQs of such groups might be informative.
The Napoleonic History Site might help, too :
http://www.a-1.be/arts/history/napoleon

8. I want Play by Email partners
rec.games.pbm
is the place to find potential play-by-email opponents. A better bet
might be to find a website which hosts a league. I've tried to list
such sites in each games' entry in Part 2.
These days, however, all the buzz is for real-time gaming systems
such as Kali etc.

9. General queries about Kali
alt.games.kali
is the place to go, although the Kali website has the answer to
almost any question.

10. Discussions of strategy games on the Apple Macintosh and other
platforms.
comp.sys.mac.games.strategic is obviously the place to go for the
Mac. Other platforms have yet to spawn separate strategy newsgroups.
Try
comp.sys.acorn.games
comp.sys.amiga.games
rec.games.video.* for the consoles

WHICH GROUPS ARE BETTER THAN c.s.i.p.g.s FOR MY POSTING ...?
Bad title I know. C.s.i.p.g.s has spawned a number of groups where you
can concentrate on particular games, which you might find more
manageable than c.s.i.p.g.s. If you don't get these groups (some
ISPs block the alt.* groups for example), you're welcome to post
questions about such games in c.s.i.p.g.s - they are, after all
strategy games. I've listed some of them here, but otherwise they are
listed in the individual game's section in Part 2

alt.fan.elite
alt.game.ssg.sim, alt.rec.ssg.sim
alt.games.civnet These days has Civ2 as well
alt.games.command-n-conq Communication is a wonderful
thing, isn't it?
alt.games.command.and.conquer _Slightly_ less traffic.
alt.games.dune-ii.virgin-games Ahh, the memories...
alt.games.gazillionaire New, so don't know what the
availability is like.
alt.games.mechwarrior2
alt.games.vga-planet
alt.games.vga-planets
alt.games.wargames
alt.games.warcraft
rec.games.diplomacy
rec.games.computer.stars _All_ the Stars! traffic is now
here, at last.

Other examples of this include
comp.os.os2.games
Although the c.s.i.p.g.* charter explicitly allows discussion of OS/2
games, OS/2ers might find c.o.o.g more congenial. You're still
welcome, though, in c.s.i.p.g.s, where you can harp on about how the
GalCiv AI is so much better than any Windows one, before beating a
swift retreat back to comp.os.os2.advocacy followed by a sheet of
flame.
If you're interested in the technical side of AI, I suggest
comp.ai.games
(note this is strictly for AI programmers, not for gamers who want to
know how to beat an AI)

POSTING
Right, assuming you've worked your way through the above, here are
some guidelines for posting to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic :

SUBJECT LINE
This is vital in such a heavily trafficed group as c.s.i.p.g.s where
few people actually read everything. Get it wrong, and you'll just be
ignored.
If you're posting about a particular game, PLEASE start your subject
line with the abbreviation of the game such as Civ2 or AOR. This
makes it easy for readers to group related threads together, just by
sorting subjects alphabetically. Also, don't put the abbreviation in
brackets, and don't precede it with _any_ other characters.
Make the subject line concise, but informative. e.g. AOR (Jurassic 1)
how to kill brontosaurus?
The question mark shows you want to know how to kill the brontosaurus
in scenario 1 of the (fictional) Jurassic Park campaign for Age of
Rifles.
Make sure the subject line is RELEVANT to the contents of the post.
In particular, if you are following up a thread, change the subject if
appropriate and keep the old one in brackets preceded by 'was' e.g.
AOR - we want nuke bullets (was (Jurassic 1) how to kill
brontosaurus?)
Once this transition has been made clear in this way, you can drop the
'was' bit.
Likewise, a solution to this tricky problem would delete the question
mark in the subject, and perhaps add [spoiler] to warn off those who
didn't want to know. Some people add a pageful of carriage returns
before printing their solutions as a backup measure. An alternative
is to scramble your answer using ROT-13, a simple encoding system that
can be unscrambled by many news readers (including Netscape).

THE POST
Don't quote previous posts verbatim. Just include enough that readers
can figure out what you're responding to and edit out the rest. 20-30
lines is usually more than enough, 2 may be sufficient. After all,
regular readers will have seen the rest of the thread already, or will
do so in 2-3 days time (that Usenet delay again). Who said what is
important, their signatures are not. If you're not doing a
line-by-line critique, put your response at the top of the quoted
passage - it just makes it that bit quicker to read. If your software
doesn't allow you to edit out previous posts, switch off 'include
previous messages' altogether or get a new reader from
www.shareware.com
Please remember you are addressing an international audience and don't
use local jargon that might be misinterpreted by the rest of the
world. For instance, on another group, I had to point out to a
Marylander that the rest of us used 'Mid Atlantic' to refer to places
such as Tristan da Cunha, rather than to Baltimore. However, use of
local dialect, (for want of a better word), adds to the richness of
Usenet as long as we can figure out what you're talking about.
Inventing your own spellings for ordinary words may seem 'kewl' but
from 5000 miles away looks pretty childish and is a quick route to the
killfiles of the world. Also, think of looking up 'kewl' in your
trusty English/Serbo-Croat dictionary, and you can imagine the problem
that non-native speakers will have. As far as foreign languages go,
the de facto lingua franca of c.s.i.p.g.s is Latin - sorry, English
<g>. You're welcome to post in other languages, but if your English
isn't up to it, you're probably better off in one of the national
hierarchies such as de., fr., es. etc. On the other hand, we're
generally pretty tolerant of non-native speakers of English - we even
put up with Americans! ;-> It's the 'native' speakers that normally
have the most problems with English <sigh>
Please try to use capital letters in the conventional way - WRITING IN
ALL CAPITALS Or AlTeRnAtE CaPiTaLs IS MUCH HARDER TO READ AND IS
CONSIDERED SHOUTING ON USENET, SO DON'T DO IT!!!

If you're having technical problems with a game, describe your system
_exactly_.
Relevant information might be :
OS - eg DR-DOS 7.0 or Win 3.10 over Netware 3.12 or DOS box in Windows
95 4.00.950a with Norton
Computer - eg Dell Dimension XPS Pro 200n, or Aptiva 182
Processor - eg 486 SLC 25, or Cyrix 6x86-166
Video card - eg Diamond Stealth 64 2Mb DRAM PCI with S3 Inc. drivers
dated 1/1/96
Soundcard - eg Soundblaster 16 Pnp with Yamaha YST-M10 speakers
CD-ROM - eg Teac CD-56E 6x with MSCDEX 2.23
Game version - eg Warcraft 2 with v1.2 patch
And any other weirdnesses - scanners, SCSI, two hard drives etc.
Try and figure out exactly how to reproduce the problem - you're less
likely to get a response to 'This game crashed on me' than to 'This
game caused a GPF in DINOSEX.DLL at ..... when I tried to get Sid to
nuke the brontosaurus whilst carrying an inflatable banana'
The more information you give, the more likely someone can help,
although we don't need to know the entire contents of your hard drive.
Remember these are GAMES we are talking about - people do tend to get
them confused with real life. Some compromises have to be made
between realism and playability.
Bear in mind the rest of this FAQ

SIGNATURES
Should be 6 lines at most.
This is the place to advertise your home page. This means the more
you help people, the more they see of your URL! You can also point
people to other pages they might enjoy.
Some idea of where you live may help other people local to you.
It's a good idea to keep your real email address in your sig, but
modify it in the 'From' field of the post, to fool junk emailers.
Keep it SHORT, though - no life size images of the Eiffel Tower,
lovingly crafted from ASCII characters!

ABOUT THIS FAQ
Version - Part 2, Beta 3, released 30/Nov/96.
This version has lots more added to it, undergone considerable
rewrites, and I've checked out all links in the A-G sections.
Copyright 1996 Alastair Ainslie (ain...@cloud9.u-net.com). All
rights reserved.
Not for commercial redistribution without my explicit permission.
All trademarks and other rights acknowledged.
All suggestions welcomed (especially mailing lists), all flames
ignored.

This is part two of the Frequently Asked Questions for the
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic newsgroup, containing a list of the
games discussed in c.s.i.p.g.s, along with references to homepages,
patches, demos etc. Part 1 dealing with general issues is posted
separately. If you're looking for a patch or demo, I strongly
recommend you use this document to find out the name of the patch, and
then use ftpsearch or Altavista (see Part 1) to find it on a local
server - it'll be much quicker and reduce long-distance Net traffic.
You can always use the link below if that doesn't work. Gamesdomain
and OGR (see part 1) and other games sites often have such files as
well. If possible, I have given Gamesdomain links, just because it
has two mirrors which you can reach by replacing gamesdomain.co.uk
with gamesdomain.com or .ru as appropriate. Again using these mirrors
is quicker and reduces bandwidth demands. I've listed places to get
reviews in Part 1 - I started listing them individually for each game,
but it started getting ridiculous.
Facts in this document will change faster than I can keep up with
them, so I'd really appreciate an email (ain...@cloud9.u-net.com)
about any changes (at least in A-G, as I haven't double checked the
rest of it yet). Also any extra games that should be included - I've
just been concentrating on the current 'biggies'.

NOTE - I have snipped off any 'the's and other articles at the
beginning of titles, and spelt out numbers, so for example 3rd Reich
will be found under THIRD REICH.

AVAILABILITY
I will post the betas to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic for
discussion purposes as they happen. After that I will post it to
comp.binaries.ibm.pc until I get it approved to go in news.answers,
which is where it belongs. I will also be making it available on the
Web, first as a zip file, then as HTML.

SOURCES
In order :
1. My own exeprience of the games or their demos
2. Developers' and publishers' websites
3. Other websites such as Gamesdomain - mostly just technical stuff
- some publishers don't even bother to say what OS the game uses!
4. comp.sys.ibm.pc.strategic itself, although I try to double check
such material.

***Microprose have finally revamped their website, so many MPS URLs
may no longer work.
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/gamespage/backproducts/gameslist.html
has an index.

ACROSS THE RHINE
Abbreviation : AtR
Publisher : Microprose
Demo :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/demos/atrvesa.zip
Battalion-level sim of the tank battles in the closing months of WWII,
with the ability to switch to first-person view in each tank.
Apparently not bad as a strategy game, but horrible as a tactical tank
battle. Some people like it, most don't.
FAQs :
http://happypuppy.com/games/avatarx/faqs/atrhine.zip

ADVANCED CIVILIZATION
Publisher : Avalon Hill
Official website : http://members.aol.com/ahgames/comp05.html
Patch to v1.01 : ftp://members.aol.com/yogrendel/pub/ac_101.zip
Demo : Not yet available - see
http://members.aol.com/ahgames/gallery.html
After the huge success of Microprose's Civilization (qv), loosely
based on AH's board games Civilization and Advanced Civilization, AH
thought they better port AC themselves. Too late... Almost identical
to the boardgame, so if you liked that, you'll like computer AC.
If you've not played the boardgame, you'll probably prefer Microprose
Civ2 or CivNET instead.
Unofficial site :
http://www.lilback.com/civilization/ah/computer.html

AFTERLIFE
Abbreviation : Afterlife
Publisher : LucasArts (Michael Stemmle)
Platforms : DOS CD-ROM SVGA and Mac
Released : 5/96 ish
Home page :
http://www.lucasarts.com/static/afterlife/afterlifemenu.htm
Multiplayer : No?
8bit sound fix : http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/patches/after.html
Demo (10.5Mb) : http://www.lucasarts.com/static/afterlife/demo.htm
Interesting take on the SimCity theme where you have to manage Heaven
and/ or Hell. You have to attract souls by zoning and building
structures - poor planning of traffic flow and zoning is actually
rewarded in Hell. Lots of nice touches. There's a glossary in the
official FAQ, along with equations for how things work. Quite
confusing at first, but enjoyable enough for a while
Official FAQ :
http://www.lucasarts.com/static/afterlife/afterlifefaq.htm
Unofficial FAQ http://www.ecf.utoronto.ca/~doyama/afterlife.html
Hacked save game http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/3805/

AGE OF RIFLES
Abbreviation : AOR
Publisher : SSI (Norm Koger)
Platform : DOS CD-ROM VGA
Released : 9/96
Official website :
http://www.ssionline.com/games/ssi/rifles/index.html
Norm's page : http://www.onr.com/user/nkoger/games.html#Rifles
Mindscape site :
http://www.mindscape.com/msgames/Entertainment/AgeRifles/index.html
Multiplayer : PBEM
Demo (4.1Mb) : ftp://ftp.ssionline.com/pub/demos/aordemo.exe
Latest version : 1.01
Patch location : ftp://ftp.ssionline.com/pub/updates/aor101.exe
Third in SSI's Wargame Construction Set series (qv Tanks!).
Turn-based tactical wargame. Build armies and fight the campaigns of
the last century (more or less) : Expansion of the British Empire,
Mexican-American War, Prussian Unification, Russo-Japanese War and the
USA Civil War (2). THE big hex-based wargame of the moment. Norm's
now talking of an Age of Muskets prequel. Needs MSCDEX 2.23 See
Norm's page for essential extra info and other AOR links.
Scenarios : http://ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu/~kklemme/scenario.htm
: http://www.swlink.net/~milo/aor/
Novastar scenarios http://www.vfr.net/~novastar/rifles.htm

AGE OF WONDERS
Scheduled : ???
Publisher : Epic Megagames
Platform : Win95
Official website : http://www.epicgames.com/age.htm
Preview :
http://www.cdmag.com/strategy_vault/worlds_of_wonder_preview/page1.html
Fantasy hex-based game of conquest. Turn-based. Think Warlords 2 with
more quest elements.

AGE OF SAIL
Abbreviation : AOS
Publisher : Talonsoft
Released : 11/96
Official website : http://www.talonsoft.com/
Multiplayer : some kind of head-to-head option
Screenshot : ftp://www.talonsoft.com/pub/talonsoft/aos.gif
Realtime sim of naval battles 1774-1820, from one-on-one up to
Trafalgar.
Ships include Victory, Constitution and the Espanol. Also features
scenario editor and campaign game in the navies of Britain, France,
Spain or the US.
Shame noone told the webmaster that the French had something to do
with the battle of Trafalgar.
Looks interesting - screenshot suggests the game's played from a
helicopter's-eye view. _The_ competition for WS&IM, and like WS&IM,
is now discussed in c.s.i.p.g.naval.

AIDE DE CAMP
Official website : http://www.cris.com/~sturmer/newadc.html
Latest version : 1.18
Patch location : http://members.aol.com/gsturmer/adc-118.exe
System for converting hex-based board wargmaes to PBEM

ALLIED GENERAL
Abbreviation : AG
Publisher : SSI
Platform : Windows 95/ Mac
Released :
Official website :
http://www.ssionline.com/games/ssi/allied/index.html
Multiplayer : PBEM
Latest version : 1.1
Patch location : ftp://ftp.ssionline.com/pub/updates/ag_v101.exe
Demo : ftp://ftp.ssionline.com/pub/demos/AGDEMO.EXE
Sequel to Panzer General with a slightly improved engine & more
balanced scenarios. Less focussed than PzG, as you can play any of
the three Allies. Can lock up in Win 3.x (presumably with Win32?),
but not Win95 - see FAQ. Demo also available in parts - AGDEMO.A01
etc.

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
Abbreviation : ACW
Developer : Adanac Command Systems
Publisher : Interactive Magic
Platforms : Needs Win95 for full music, can work under Windows
3.x SVGA CD-ROM
Official website : http://www.imagicgames.com/acw.dir/acw.html
Multiplayer : No?
Latest version : 3.0M
Patch :
ftp://ftp.imagicgames.com/pub/patches/acw/acwpatch.exe
Ptch needs new map ftp://ftp.imagicgames.com/pub/patches/acw/map.zip
Demo : ftp://ftp.imagicgames.com/pub/demos/acw/acwdemo.zip
One of the best Civil War-only strategy games with decent AI and
bugfree. Some people don't like the interface nor the lack of a
tactical display. Some people report a lot of disk churning - I think
the patch helps with 8Mb machines.
Editor :
ftp://ftp.imagicgames.com/pub/patches/acw/editor.zip

BATTLECRUISER 3000
Abbreviation : BC3K
Developer : 3000AD (Derek Smart)
Publisher : Take 2 Interactive Software
Distributors : Acclaim (N. America) Gametek (Europe)
Released : 10/96
Official page : http://www.take2games.com/battle.html
Another page ? : http://www.bc3000ad.com/
Latest version : 1.01c Release 2 (1.01c2)
Technical FAQ : http://www.westol.com/~t2supprt/bc3k.html
Patch location : See the group for the latest. Try OGR etc?
Manual patch offer:http://www.take2games.com/~t2supprt/man.html
7 years in the making, and all people can talk about is the manual, or
rather the inadequacy of the 30 page pamphlet in the box. Apparently
this was 153 pages originally, and Derek will be publishing this on
the Web, blaming Take2 for editing it. Meanwhile Take2 are offering
registered users the manual to the Xmas 95 non-release for free (see
URL) while they work out a patch to the manual (!). Some people have
complained vociferously about bugs; it seems to be memory hungry (say
600Kb free) and to not like QEMM's Stealth feature. The 180Mb(!) full
install may help here too; alternatively, try the minimum 30Mb. There
are also some completed bis that missed the CD mastering. There's
already been 4 patches, and the motto seems to be - if you see a new
one, get it! For details of the patched features go to Dejanews and
search for Derek's post 'BC3K Patch News'. The European version will
have a new manual and the v1.1 program - nice to have the manual beta
tested for us!
Take2 were responsible for the combat sequences, which are accurate -
everything happens at half the speed of light and are unplayable,
whilst the AI is a bit stupid. On the other hand, Derek's
much-vaunted neural net creates a believable universe to immerse you
in - sadly it doesn't control the combat AI. There's always lots
going on - it's not just you vs. the universe. Oh, and the game - you
control a Battlecruiser with 4 fighters (controllable separately),
fighting the Gammulans. Kind of Elite meets Carrier Command, although
a space version of Across the Rhine might be a more appropriate
analogy.
There seems to be a deep, complex game in here, there's little doubt
of that, but wait for the patch and the availability of a full manual
(or move to Europe).
Keyboard chart : http://www.take2games.com/~t2supprt/bckeys.html
Pre-release FAQ :
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/9579/bnew.txt
Unofficial pages : http://www.worldaccess.nl/~schmitzp/bc3000ad.html
??????????????????http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/drquest/bc3k.htm
Screen shots : http://www.rcsn.nb.ca/alumni/truemang/bc3000ad.htm

BATTLEGROUND 1: ARDENNES (now BULGE), 2: GETTYSBURG, 3: WATERLOO, 4:
SHILOH, 5: ANTIETAM
Publisher : Talonsoft
Official website : http://www.talonsoft.com/briefing.html
Successful, very detailed wargame series. Terrain mapping means that
Waterloo takes up 100Mb! Lots of patches etc. on the official
website. All the old games can be patched with the latest game
engine. The Talonsoft chat board is probably a better bet than
csipgs.
BG3:W page : http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~mst

BATTLEGROUND 6, 7, 8 ...
Scheduled : Autumn 96
Publisher : Talonsoft
Official website : http://www.talonsoft.com/intelligence.html
The Talonsoft site lists the following upcoming releases -
Battleground 6: Borodino, Battleground 7: Bull Run (with both Manassas
battles) and Battleground 8: Middle East (formerly Sinai). There's
also been talk of a Prelude to Waterloo - BG: 9??

BATTLE ISLE 3 (Europe) / BATTLE ISLE 2220 (N. America) : SHADOW OF THE
EMPEROR
Abbreviation : BI3
Publisher : Bluebyte (Germany)
Platform : Windows 95 SVGA CD-ROM
Released :
Official website :
http://www.bluebyte.com/us/products/bi2220/bi2220.htm
(see : http://www.bluebyte.com/ for UK and deutsche links)
Multiplayer : Up to 6 IPX
Patch location : Who needs one, this game was coded by Germans <g>!!
Demo : ftp://ftp.bluebyte.com/public/demos/bi2220.zip
Has been described as being like Perfect General 2 with a dose of Dune
2. Build towns, factories etc. to create tanks, planes, ships.
Like a BMW 3 series - glossy, mechanically sound, but uninspired.
Unofficial site : http://www.logonvision.de/gameworld/bi3/

BROKEN ALLIANCE
Description : http://www.cris.com/~sturmer/broken.htm
Add-on for Panthers in the Shadows (qv)

CAESAR 2
Publisher : Sierra
Official website : http://www.sierra.com/entertainment/caesar2/
Build up first Rome, then the Roman Empire.

CAPITALISM
Abbreviation : Cap
Developer : Enlight Software
Publisher : Interactive Magic
Platform : DOS CD-ROM SVGA, Mac
Released : 11/95
Official websites: http://www.enlight.com/cap.htm
:
http://www.imagicgames.com/capitalism.dir/capitalism.html
Multiplayer : PBEM & hotseat added in v1.1
Latest version : 1.1 (beta), 1.02 (official)
Patch location : ftp://ftp.enlight.com/capp110.exe
Demo : ftp://ftp.imagicgames.com/pub/demos/capdemo1.exe
The real-time business strategy game - incorporates retailing,
manufacturing, mining, farming, management, marketing, financial
management, accounting, economics and the stock market.
FAQ : http://www.enlight.com/capfaq.htm
Unofficial FAQ : http://www.enlight.com/capstrat.htm

CAPITALISM PLUS
Scheduled : Christmas 96
Platform : Windows 95 and DOS
Official website : http://www.enlight.com/capplus.htm
Capitalism rerelease with some new features, random events and
scenario editor. Maps 4x bigger, new products, scenarios and maps.

CAPITALISM 2
Scheduled : Autumn 97
Will have full multiplayer capabilities and a lot of new game
features.

CARRIERS AT WAR
Official website :
http://www.ssg.com.au/index_files/carriers_home.html
Simulation of naval air warfare in the 1930's and WWII. The Complete
Carriers at War is now available and contains CAW I, CAW II, the CAW
Construction Kit, and all scenarios.
Website : http://www.rapidramp.com/wize/
Now in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.naval; or alt.game.ssg.sim or
alt.rec.ssg.sim

CASTLES 2: SIEGE AND CONQUEST
Publisher : Interplay
Platform : DOS CD-ROM & floppy
Official website : http://www.interplay.com/games/saleca2.html
Demo : ftp://ftp1.interplay.com/pub/demos/castdemo.zip
"You want to be King of France. But to get it, you've got to build an
empire by forging diplomatic alliances with power-hungry barons, mine
the land for valuable minerals, feed your people and defend your land.
Accomplish these tasks, defeat your opponents and you've got the job!"
Troubleshooting : http://www.interplay.com/support/c2.html
strategy guide http://www.interplay.com/hint/armchair.html

CAVEWARS
Scheduled : 11/96
Publisher : Avalon Hill
Official website : http://members.aol.com/ahgames/comp05.html
Multiplayer : 'Up to 5 players'
Think MOO with caverns replacing star systems, and a magical flavour.
Hmmm. We'll see.

CHAOS OVERLORDS
Abbreviation : CO
Developer : Stick Man Games
Publisher : North-west Computing
Released : 5/96
Official website : http://www.nwcomputing.com/chaos/
Platforms : Win95, Mac
Multiplayer : Up to 6, modem, LAN, TCP/IP Extra CD $15.
Latest version : 1.1
Patch location : http://www.nwcomputing.com/download/cov11w95.zip
You are one of six Overlords seeking to gain control of a futuristic
city using gangs to gain sectors and influence people. Turn based.
FAQ : http://www.panix.com/~rwebb/chaos/chaosfaq.html
Challenge board : http://www.wizweb.com/arena/chaosOverlords/

CIVIL WAR GENERAL
Abbreviation : CWG
Publisher : Sierra
Platform : Windows 3.x
Official website : http://www.sierra.com/entertainment/civilwar/
Multiplayer : "Modem and Network play"
Scenarios :
ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/funstuff/civilsn1.exe
Command the Army of Northern Virginia through 8 battles of the US
Civil War with a multimedia history of the war. Strategic elements to
campaign mode, but you can fight individual battles too.

CIVILIZATION
Abbreviation : Civ1
Publisher : Microprose (Sid Meier)
Platforms : MS-DOS and Windows versions (and Mac, Amiga,
consoles?).
(Freeware X-windows port at
http://www.daimi.aau.dk/~allan/freeciv.html)
Released : Ages ago - 1991?
Official website : None at http://www.microprose.com
Multiplayer : No (see CivNET)
Demo :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/demos/civdem.zip
Manual supplement:
http://www.microprose.com/ftp/mps-online/new-versions/civ3.txt
Various patches/ sound drivers at
http://www.microprose.com/ftp/mps-online/new-versions/
along with various editors, cheats, a jukebox(!) and MPS FAQs
One of the classic strategy games of all time, although the overhead
2D graphics now seem crude. You must shepherd a nation from the Stone
Age to the space race, in military and economic competition with
computer players, gaining territory, scientific advances, money and
Wonders of the World. Superceded by CivNET and Civilization 2, but
still highly playable.
There is a nasty bug that causes a crash when the Domestic advisor has
no more advice to give. This can be avoided by turning off the
advisors.
FAQ : http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/civfaq1.html
Website : http://www.lilback.com/civilization/
Book : Sid Meier's Civilization, or Rome on 640K a Day
by Johnny Wilson and Alan Emrich. ISBN
1-55958-191-3

CIVNET
Abbreviation : Civnet
Publisher : Microprose (Sid Meier?)
Platforms : Windows 3.x (95 compatible)
Released : 2/96
Multiplayer : modem, hotseat, IPX/SPX, NetBIOS, TCP/IP
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/gamespage/backproducts/backproductpages/civnet.html
Latest version : 1.02 (15 march 1996)and needs it
Patch location :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/new-versions/civnetp3.zip
Demo : See Civ1
Review :
http://www.zdnet.com/gaming/content/960320/rev1/main.html
At last, a multiplayer version of Civ! What more do you want? The
thinking man's Deathmatch - but clear your diary first!
There used to be a Microprose FAQ and a player registry, but they've
got lost in their site reorganisation - try:
http://www.microprose.com/corporatedesign/techsupport/techsupp.html
Setting up : http://www.iag.net/~jlehett/civtech.html
Websites : http://206.84.2.5/dm/games/civnet.html
: http://www.ualberta.ca/~wtsang/civnet.html
Pictures and maps: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~tjsjr/civpics.html
IRC #civnet page : http://www.radix.net/~mikes/civnet.html
Challenge board : http://www.wizweb.com/arena/civnet/
Email : majo...@jagunet.com with message 'subscribe
civnet-list'
Usenet : alt.games.civnet (quiet, but increasingly taken
over by Civ2)

CIVILIZATION 2
Abbreviation : Civ2
Publisher : Microprose (Brian Reynolds)
Platform : Windows 3.x (95 compatible) CD-ROM
Released : 4/96
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/civ2/civ2.html and MPS What's
new
Multiplayer? : No*
Latest version : 2.42 (9 October 1996)- enables 32 bit Video for
Windows
Patch location :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/new-versions/civ242.zip
Demo : None on-line - but has been seen on magazine CDs in
the UK
Review : http://www.avault.com/yarlen/civ2.html
Gameplay is much the same as Civilisation. The game now has 3D
isometric view, prettier graphics, new units, new Wonders, and more
diplomacy options. There was a text file listing the differences
between Civ1 & 2, but it no longer seems to exist.
The game can be infinitely customised by changing RULES.TXT and using
the map editor and cheat-menu-cum-scenario-editor. Microprose are
planning to release a scenario disk, but there's plenty on the Web.
If you liked Civilisation, you'll love Civ2; it's a must-have whether
you're a Civ1 pro or completely new to this kind of game. However,
with a big empire, you do end up having a lot of micromanagement to
do.
*Some remains of multiplayer development work are left in GAME.TXT but
despite repeated calls in c.s.i.p.g.s, Microprose has _NO_ plans to
implement this :-(((
Technical FAQ :
http://www.microprose.com/corporatedesign/techsupport/hot/civ2faq.txt
FAQ list :
http://www.dreamscape.com/overlord/civ2/civ2hint.html
Kenworthy FAQ :
http://www.happypuppy.com/games/lordsoth/cheats/strategy/civ2.txt
Azeraab's FAQ : http://www.silentplanet.com/www/azeraab/civ2faq.txt
Unofficial websites
US (?) :
http://www.dreamscape.com/overlord/civ2/civ2main.html
: http://www.webcom.com/drwoods/civ2.html
: http://www.swlink.net/~milo/
Norway : http://login.eunet.no/~robertro/civ2/civ2.htm
Australia : http://www.intcon.com.au/projects/civ2/
Usenet : alt.games.civnet
Mailing list : "Subscribe CivMail" in the subject, "sign-on (your
name)" in the body, sent to:
civiliz...@hotmail.com

CIVILIZATION 2 SCENARIOS
Publisher : Microprose
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/civ2scenarios/civ2scenarios.html
12 scenarios written in-house, plus 8 off the 'Net. '100 new units'.
Plus a user-hostile event scripting language. Not really worth it -
you can do better by going direct to one of the Civ2 pages such as
those listed above. There's also been an unofficial CD of Civ2
scenarios (mostly Net ones), which Spectrum Holobyte (Microprose's
parent) soon got pulled from the shelves.

CLOSE COMBAT
Abbreviation : CC
Developer : Atomic Games
Publisher : Microsoft
Platform : Windows 95 native CD-ROM SVGA, Mac
Released : 7/96
Official website : http://www.atomic.com/res/ccmain.html
: http://www.microsoft.com/games/kickbutt/default.htm
Multiplayer : 1-2 players TCP/IP, modem, not null modem (like
all DirectPlay games)
Latest version : 1.0a - speeds up scrolling in particular
Patch location :
ftp://ftp.atomic.com/pub/patches/CloseCombat/Win95/ccupdate.EXE
:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/kickbutt/game_recon/patch.htm
Demo(cctrial.exe): http://www.atomic.com/res/ccdownload.html (7.2 Mb)
Most people love it. Realtime tactical squad-level wargame with no
strategic element as in C&C. Based on the Normandy campaign - the
Americans breaking out from Omaha Beach, the Germans trying to stop
them. Complex psychological model allows your soldiers considerable
autonomy (ie less like the C&C clickfest) and very good AI. However
one reviewer compared Close Combat to a creative dissertation
developed by a PhD candidate in Psychology. FAQ suggests CC2 will
happen.
The patch is meant to support NT, but needs a Win95 dual-boot system
(why bother?) unless you enter in the Run dialogue
"D:\setup\acmsetup /Z cchook.dll /T cc.stf /S D:\"
(where D: is your CD drive) and then run the patch. (credit to: Peter
Fisla).
Official FAQ : http://www.atomic.com/res/ccfaq.html
Unofficial FAQ : http://www5.palmnet.net/~tkm/ccfaq.html
Tips :
http://www.gamespot.com/features/closecombat/index.html
Yahoo site list :
http://www.yahoo.com/Recreation/Games/Computer_Games/Genres/Strategy/War_Games/Titles/Close_Combat/

Unofficial CC HQ : http://www5.palmnet.net/~tkm/cc.html
CC editor? :
ftp://ftp.dfm.com/pub/users/icode/CCombat/ccEdit.zip
IRC : IRC #closecombat

COLONIZATION
Abbreviation : Col
Publisher : Microprose (Sid Meier)
Platform : MS-DOS VGA, Amiga
Released :
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/gamespage/backproducts/backproductpages/colonization.html
Multiplayer : No
Latest version : 3.0
Patch location :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/new-versions/COLV30.ZIP
Demo :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/demos/coldemo.zip
You take the part of the British, Dutch, French or Spanish (each of
whom have different advantages) and try to build a colony in the New
World (random map or the real one) that can win a war of independence
from the troops of the motherland. Meanwhile you can trade and fight
with the natives and other Europeans. Compared to Civ there's much
more emphasis on colony development, with several trades for colonists
to learn, and on trade. The military options are much more
restricted, with only generic soldiers and dragoons for most of the
game. 'Founding Fathers' play a role similar to Wonders in Civ. Fun,
especially with privateers on an island map, but less long-lived than
Civ. Cheat menu - Alt+WIN
FAQ :
http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/faqdir/colonization.faq

COMMAND AND CONQUER: TIBERIAN DAWN
Abbreviation : C&C
Developer : Westwood Studios
Publisher : Virgin Interactive
Platform : MS-DOS MCGA (C&C95 due by Christmas 96?)
Released : 9/95
Official website : http://www.westwood.com/index.html
Multiplayer : 1-2 (modem, null modem), 1-4 (IPX and Kali!) Buddy
CD provided
Latest version : 1.22 (English) 1.20p (francais & deutsch)
Patch & tech FAQ :
http://www.westwood.com/infodir/techsupport/techcc1.html
Demo (9.3Mb) :
ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/cc1/previews/demo/cc1demo1.zip
Optional extras :
ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/cc1/previews/demo/cc1demo2.zip
Win95 theme :
http://www.westwood.com/cc1/screenpak/cc1screenpak.html
Another classic - a million copies sold. Combines a realtime tactical
wargame with elements of strategy. The tactical elements are fairly
standard: send the little soldier/tank/chopper to their doom with a
mouseclick - too many mouseclicks for some people. The strategic bits
require you to harvest 'tiberium' which converts to cash to buy
buildings for your base or new units. These, the many scenarios and
the multiplayer hooks are what make C&C such a rich game. On the
other hand, some 'pure' strategy gamers don't like it because of the
frantic clicking preventing full consideration of strategy - each to
their own. Some Win95 problems.
Unofficial FAQ :
http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/faqdir/command-n-conquer.faq
FAQ latest version http://kublai.pacificrim.net/~solaris/cnc.html (not
available?)
CCedit & links : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/5458/cnc.html
Mixman : http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/8682/
Scenario pack : http://news.third-wave.com:80/case/ccpack/ (I
couldn't get in)
Websites : http://www10.torget.se/temple (very comprehensive,
and it's mirrored!)
Lots of links : http://www.vvm.com/~jdonohue/cc.html
: http://www.io.org/~isarog/c-c/
Book : ?Official C&C Strategy Guide Brady Publishing ISBN:
1-566-86-247-7
Usenet : alt.games.command-n-conq or
alt.games.command.and.conquer

COMMAND AND CONQUER: COVERT OPS
Abbreviation : C&C:CO
Official website : http://www.westwood.com/covertops/mmmain.html
Demo :
http://www.westwood.com/covertops/assets/covtdemo.zip
2 new missions and 2 more multiplayer maps

COMMAND AND CONQUER: RED ALERT
Abbreviation : RA
Developer : Westwood Studios
Publisher : Virgin Interactive Entertainment
Platform : DOS & Windows 95 versions are both on the CD,
despite what the box says
Released : 11/96
Official website : http://www.westwood.com/redalert/redalert.html
Multiplayer : Up to 8 players, IPX LAN, modem, null modem,
Winsock (win95 only)
C&C prequel. Originally an add-on pack, now an independent game.
More of the same for C&C fans
Pre release FAQ : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/4181/
Unofficial websites - loads - just do a Yahoo search.
Usenet : alt.games.command-n-conq or
alt.games.command.and.conquer

CONQUEST OF THE NEW WORLD
Abbreviation : CNW
Interplay Productions
Platform : SVGA
Released : 4/96
Official website : http://conquest.interplay.com/
Multiplayer : up to 6 over a LAN, head-to-head with a modem,
serial cable or PBEM.
Challenge board : http://conquest.interplay.com/players/index.html
Latest version : 1.12
Patch Location : http://www.quicksilver.com/conquest/index.html
Demo cnwdemoa.zip: http://conquest.interplay.com/mirror/conquest.html
Going for the Colonization market - prettier, but maybe not quite the
gameplay. People still enjoy it though.
FAQ : http://conquest.interplay.com/cheat.html
Prima publish the 'official' strategy guide by Michael Aymaszewski
ISBN 0-7615-0170-3

CONQUEST OF THE NEW WORLD, DELUXE EDITION
Official website : http://conquest.interplay.com/deluxe2.html
Seems this will be made available as a free patch to existing owners,
or they can pay $15 to get the full manual etc. like the people buying
it new.
Adds an editor, 10 new scenarios, improved mother country diplomacy
and various new things to discover.

DEADLOCK: PLANETARY CONQUEST
Abbreviation : Deadlock
Publisher : Accolade
Platform : Windows 3.x + Win32s or Windows 95
Released : 9/96
Official website :
http://www.accolade.com/products/deadlock/acdlspla01.html
Multiplayer : Email, Modem, Netbios (so needs KaliNB)
Patch coming soon:
http://www.accolade.com/products/deadlock/acdlfaq01.html
Demo :
http://www.accolade.com/products/deadlock/acdldemo01.html
Civilization clone, where different races have different attributes.
Very pretty, but the AI lets it down apparently. reducing replay
value. The Netbios support originally forced people to use TEN and
Mplayer, but the specially developed KaliNB 'hack' (Kali's words...)
works fine.

DEFINITIVE WAR GAME COLLECTION 2
Publisher : SSI
Official website :
http://www.ssionline.com/cgi-bin/omixlink?758964418+products/dwc2/index.html
Appears to be a must-buy for the serious wargamer or for the newcomer
wanting to get into wargames (most of them are good enough to be on a
wargamer's shelf already).
According to the SSI website it contains :
SSI : Clash Of Steel, Panzer General, Steel Panthers,
Tanks!
Intracorp/ 360 : Harpoon II with WestPac & Cold War Battlesets
: V for Victory: Utah Beach, Market Garden
Koei : Ghengis Khan II, Operation Europe: Path To Victory,
Romance of the 3 Kingdoms
Colorado : High Command
Spectrum Holobyte: Command HQ
You need to make save directories for PzG & CoS -
http://www.ssionline.com/patches/update48.html

DESTINY
Abbreviation : Destiny
Publisher : Interactive Magic (Adrian Earle)
Platforms : Windows 95 SVGA CD-ROM
Released : 9/96
Official website : http://www.imagicgames.com/destiny.dir/destiny.html
Multiplayer : TCP/ IP
Latest version : 1.136 (21st Nov 1996)
Patch location :
http://www.imagicgames.com/destiny.dir/index.html#patch
Prerelease patch :
ftp://ftp.imagicgames.com/pub/patches/destiny/destpch1.exe
Caused a storm in c.s.i.p.g.s when first released. Sadly this was
because the version featured exclusively in CompUSA (& Media Play?)
before the USA-wide roll-out was indeed a prerelease version that was
full of bugs. The patch updates the 24 Sep executable to 3 Oct. Very
complex Civilization-style game. Nice idea in theory, but gets very
tedious. Manual not great (few extra bits in Acrobat documentation).
Graphics not great.
DirectX & modem FAQs : http://www.imagicgames.com/techsupp.html
Official FAQ : http://www.imagicgames.com/destiny.dir/tips.html

DIPLOMACY
Publisher : Avalon Hill
Not a computer game as such, but a tabletop game that happens to be
very well suited to PBEM/ PBM. Hugely popular, and well served by
other Internet resources, so c.s.i.p.g.s is a poor place to start -
try the Diplomatic Pouch site instead. In the game, you play one of 7
powers in pre-WWI Europe. It's more about out-politicking other
players than a military simulation.
Diplomatic Pouch : http://www.sni.net/~mhand/DipPouch/
Usenet : rec.games.diplomacy

DUNE 2: THE BUILDING OF A DYNASTY
Developer : Westwood Studios
Publisher : Virgin
Platforms : DOS (3.5" or 5.25") & Amiga
Released : 1993
Official website : http://www.westwood.com/dune2/d2info.html
Multiplayer : No
Latest version : 1.07
Patch location :
ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/dune2/updates/dune_fix.exe
Demo (2.2Mb) :
ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/dune2/previews/demos/dune2.exe
Technical support:
http://www.westwood.com/infodir/techsupport/techd2.html
The ground-breaking game that spawned the real time tactical/ strategy
genre that lead to C&C.
.AU/ .WAVs : http://www.westwood.com/dune2/d2music.html
Hints : http://www.westwood.com/infodir/hints/d2hints.html
Usenet : alt.games.dune-ii.virgin-games

EMPIRE
Just to clear things up, comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic is the place
to post about the New World Computing games "Empire Deluxe" and
"Empire II: The Art of War", or the PC version of an old VAX classic
called "Empire: Wargame of the Century" which came out in the 80's and
may be found at ftp://ftp.iol.ie/users/ai/pcempire.zip
However, for the multiplayer game found on Unix, VMS, OS/2, Macs, and
Windows, you should go to rec.games.empire, for
which I suggest you read the FAQ :

http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/games/empire/faq/faq.html
(from which the above was gleaned)

EMPIRE DELUXE
Publisher : New World Computing
Platform : Mac, DOS or Windows 3.x
Released : 93
Latest version : 3.11a (DOS), 3.11b (Windows)
Patch location : http://www.nwcomputing.com/download/download.html
Regularly appears in personal all-time Top 10 game lists. Loads of
scenarios.
Scenarios : http://mars.superlink.net/user/mok/html/empire.html
PBEM lists : http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dbott/edpbem.html
: http://www.mds.mdh.se/~dat95mbn/empire/

EMPIRE II: THE ART OF WAR
Abbreviation : Empire 2
Publisher : New World Computing
Platforms : DOS or Windows 95 CDs
Official website : http://www.nwcomputing.com/empire2/empire2.html
Novastar site ; http://www.vfr.net/~novastar/empire2.htm
Latest version : 1.1
Patch location : http://www.nwcomputing.com/download/e2dv101u.zip
Demo (& patches) : http://www.nwcomputing.com/download/download.html
FAQ : http://www.nwcomputing.com/faq/faq.html
Time to go to war again! Can use Empire Deluxe maps.
Scenarios : http://mars.superlink.net/user/mok/html/e2aow.html

ENEMY NATIONS: BATTLE FOR THE LAST PLANET
Scheduled : "Spring 97" (according to Viacom)
Abbreviation : EN
Developer : Windward Studios (David Thielen)
Publisher : Viacom New Media
Official website : http://windwardstudio.com/enemy.htm
Viacom :
http://www.viacomnewmedia.com/vnm/comingsoon/enemynations.html
Multiplayer : TCP/IP, Netbios, IPX direct to Winsock - no Kali
etc. needed
Latest version : 1.01.007 release candidate demo
Download page : http://www.windward.net/enations/index.html
Described as Transport Tycoon/Sim City meets C&C - less dull than the
former, less frantic than the latter. Also described as "This Means
War" done right. You've got to colonise the last colonisable planet
in free competition with all the other civilisations who've reached
it, starting with just a spaceship. First build up a resource base,
then hit 'em. Sounds like C&C? Much more complex resource management
means it's much less of a shoot-em-up; vehicles can run out of fuel
for example. Looks great - Dave's really been busting a gut to get
this one right first time. He's been very open to suggestions, jumped
on bugs and generally gone about it in a very open and professional
way. Shame he had to do it via the Net rather than Viacom's testing
department (a complete waste of space if Dave's version of events is
true).
Unofficial FAQ :
http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/faqdir/Enemy.Nations.Unofficial.faq.txt
Beta testers on : Efnet IRC on channel #enemynations.

FANTASY GENERAL
Abbreviation : FG
Publisher : SSI
Platform : DOS
Released :
Official website :
http://www.ssionline.com/games/ssi/fantasy/index.html
Multiplayer : PBEM; if PzG will be on TEN, why not FG ?
Patch : none
Patch location : http://www.ssionline.com/support/index_support.html
Demo : ftp://206.86.8.32/pub/demos/fg_demo.zip
Minicampaign : http://www.ssionline.com/extras/fg_minicamp.html
Fantasy wargame using the Panzer General engine. "Recruit mystical
creatures. Find Heroes. Acquire magical items. Cast spells." All that
kind of thing. 120 units; scenarios.

FIELDS OF BATTLE
Official website : http://login.dknet.dk/~bvlstone/fob/fob.html
Demo (v1.3) :
http://login.dknet.dk/~bvlstone/fob/dwld_pc_demo.html
WWI strategic wargame - sounds very boardgameish. 1-6 players, Amiga
or 32 bit Windows.

FIFTH FLEET
Publisher : Avalon Hill
Official website : http://members.aol.com/ahgames/comp03.html
Latest version : 1.2
Patch location : ftp://members.aol.com/yogrendel/pub/5f_12.zip
Control a Nimitz carrier battlegroup. Scenario disk available.
Now discussed in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.naval

FRAGILE ALLEGIANCE
Scheduled : Xmas 96
Developer : Gremlin Interactive
Publisher : Interplay Productions
Platform : MS-DOS SVGA
Official website : http://www.interplay.com/games/frag.html
: http://www.gremlin.co.uk/games/fragile/index.html
Multiplayer : Up to 4.
Another space explore-and-conquer game. Realtime.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS
Abbreviation : GalCiv
Platforms : OS/2
The original reason for OS/2ers to smirk at DOSers, on account of its
excellent AI
FAQ :
http://oahu.cern.ch/~markus/games/galciv/galciv.html

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS 2
Abbreviation : GalCiv2
Platform : OS/2 v2.1 or greater
Released : 10/96
Official website : http://www.stardock.com/galciv2.html
Latest version : 2.5
Patch location : http://www.stardock.com/update_galciv2.html
Demo : ftp://ftp.stardock.com/demos/galciv25.zip
Time to conquer the Universe again before Bill Gates redefines the
standard for God! <g>
Some people keep OS/2 on their machines just to play GalCiv.
FAQ :
http://www.magmacom.com/~svirani/GalCiv2/gc2-faq.html
Web page : http://traffic.ce.gatech.edu/galciv/

GALACTIC EMPIRES
Official website : http://www.connect.ab.ca/~empires/
Latest version : v2 (for Windows) is on its way.
"A PBEM computer moderated strategy game of space conquest for one to
nine players. You compete against computer and human empires to become
the Supreme Galactic Overlord."

GALACTIC MIRAGE
Scheduled : 'entering Beta' - so say Xmas 97?
Developer : Firestorm Productions
Platform : Windows 95
Official website : http://www.fstorm.com/thegamestatic.htm
Another space-strategy game that is currently no more than some pretty
screen shots and boasts about neural networks. We'll see.

GALAXIS
Scheduled : Soon?
Developer : Windward Studios
Publisher : Trimark Interactive - or maybe not...?
Platform : Windows 95 CDROM SVGA
Official website : http://www.windward.net/galaxis.htm
Multiplayer : 'Millions' via the WWW, or solo.
Preview :
http://www.cdmag.com/strategy_vault/e3_strategy/page16.html
'The Strategy Game For Control Of The Universe' - or Diplomacy in
space?

GAZILLIONAIRE
Developer : Lavamind
Platform : Windows 3.x
Released : 1994
Official website : http://www.gazillionaire.com/gaz.html
I've got to quote the blurb here:
"In Gazillionaire you are an intergalactic wheeler-deeler rocketing
among the 7 planets of Kukubia as the head of your own trading
company. Your spaceship is loaded with 100 tons of moon ferns, oggle
sand, lava lamps, diapers and toasters. Your goal? Sell the cargo,
make a cool profit and earn one million kubars before your squid faced
competitors beat you to it."
One of the most successful shareware strategy games. Not sure what
the story is with it appearing on SH's page - is it a marketing deal
or a takeover of Lavamind?
FAQ :
http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/faqdir/gazillionaire.faq
Usenet : alt.games.gazillionaire

GAZILLIONAIRE DELUXE
Developer : Lavamind
Platform : Windows 3.x
Released : 1996
Official website : http://www.gazillionaire.com/gaz2.html
Multiplayer : 1-6 players PBEM
Demo : http://www.gazillionaire.com/download.html
The description for this is more mundane :
"Gazillionaire Deluxe is a cross between Monopoly set in outer space
and Wall Street in wonderland. It's a wild intergalactic trading game
complete with funky Monty Python style aliens, exotic worlds to
explore and dangerous pitfalls."

GENE WARS
Developer : Bullfrog
Publisher : Electronic Arts
Platform : SVGA
Released : 9/96
Official website : http://www.bullfrog.co.uk/games/gene/index2.html
Multiplayer : Up to 4 (only 1 CD needed) IPX, modem patch coming
Patch : Promised, with time control ?
Demo (20Mb) : ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/bullfrog/gwdemo.zip
Windows 95 theme : ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/bullfrog/gwtheme.zip
Realtime, bit like a sci-fi Warcraft with bits of Populous, Deadlock &
Dune 2 thrown in. Mixed opinions - OK for a while, but maybe not a
long-term classic. Get the demo and make up your own mind.

GREAT NAVAL BATTLES
Abbreviation : GNB
Official website : http://www.ssionline.com/games/ssi/gnb5/index.html
Current versions : 1.2
Patch location : http://www.ssionline.com/support/index_support.html
Four parts : I) North Atlantic 1939-43
: II) Guadalcanal 1942-43
: III) Fury in the Pacific 1941-44
: IV) Burning Steel 1939-42
These are combined in : THE COMPLETE GREAT NAVAL BATTLES: The Final
Fury
As the multiplicity of campaigns suggest, a very popular WWII naval
simulator.
Should now be discussed in c.s.i.p.g.naval

HARPOON / HARPOON CLASSIC/ HARPOON CLASSIC ONLINE
Abbreviation : Harpoon
Developer : Three-Sixty
Platforms : MS-DOS EGA & Mac (Harpoon) Windows 3.x (Harpoon
Classic)
Released : ~1990
Multiplayer? : See Harpoon Classic 97 for Harpoon Online
Latest version : 1.58e
Classic realtime strategy game of modern naval (and air) warfare, as
used by navies around the world. Mostly consists of directing groups
of ships, subs and aircraft against other groups and 'point' bases,
from the C-in-C's point of view. The large number of scenarios and
the scenario editor are definite plusses. Now looks dated but still
plays well. Three Sixty sold the rights of Harpoon I(version 1.32),
to Alliance Interactive Software, concentrating on H2 instead.
Alliance fixed a lot of bugs, in particular the one that crashed
consistently in big scenarios. They also ported it to Windows
(Harpoon Classic) which can cope with bigger scenarios, and comes with
the original battlesets + 3 Designer Series packs of battlesets, ~100
scenarios in all.
Now belongs in c.s.i.p.g.naval
Saul Jacobs' page: http://www.flash.net/~sjacobs/index.html (*THE*
Harpoon page!)
FAQ : http://www.mono.org/~oktup/harpoon/harpfaq.html
Goat Locker : http://www.mbnet.mb.ca/~moreau/harpoon.html

HARPOON CLASSIC 97
Scheduled : November 96
Developer : Alliance Interactive
Publisher : Interactive Magic
Platform : SVGA Windows 95, Windows 3.1, or Mac
Official website : http://www.imagicgames.com/harpoon.dir/harpoon.html
Message board :
http://www.imagicgames.com/wwwboard.dir/wwwboard-harpoon.html
Multiplayer : 'Internet' (Harpoon Online http://www.kesmai.com )
Demo : http://www.imagicgames.com
Online open beta :
ftp://ftp.kesmai.com/games/harpoon/openbeta/full_version/hnow099l.exe
Basically the same as Harpoon Classic with a major graphics/ interface
revamp and 50 new scenarios, making 250 in all. Will have hooks to
Harpoon Online built in, an exciting prospect as Harpoon is a game
that cries out for 2 players... and more ?

HARPOON 2
Developer : Three-Sixty
Publisher : Intracorp (see also Definitive Wargame Collection)
Platform : DOS
Official website :
http://www.intracorp.com/html/three-sixty_software.html
Latest version : Only in Admiral's edition, otherwise get the patch.
Patch location : ftp://ftp.intracorp.com/pub/threesixty/h2update.zip
More of a simulator than a game. While a lot of Harpooners' requests
were added, the already steep learning curve has become Eiger-like.
The Admiral's Edition of Harpoon2 contains all the battlesets plus a
new one, the scenario editor, and a database editor (at last!).
Uses a nonstandard DOS extender, so CANNOT be run in a DOS box in
Windows 3.x or 95. See
Saul Jacobs' page: http://www.flash.net/~sjacobs/harpoon2.html
FAQ : file://jumi.lut.fi/pub/harpoon/cz/harpoon2.faq.Z
Now discussed in c.s.i.p.g.naval

HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC
Abbreviation : HoMM
Publisher : New World Computing (Phil Steinmeyer)
Platforms : DOS, Mac, and Windows 95 (adds editor and more
scenarios)
Released : Autumn 95 (DOS) 2/96 (Win95)
Official website : http://www.nwcomputing.com/heroes/heroes.html
Multiplayer ? : Hotseat, modem, Netbios
Latest version : v1.2 (DOS)
Patch location : http://www.nwcomputing.com/
Demo : 90Mb!!, so only on magazine CDs
Technical FAQ : http://www.nwcomputing.com/faq/faq.html#Heroes
Like Warcraft 2 with spells, castle building and MOO-like combat.
(thanks to George Lin's FAQ for most of the above) Very replayable.
FAQ :
http://www.users.fast.net/~ktolar/geoweb/homm/homm.htm
Website http://www.jagunet.com/~robertm/homm.html

HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC 2
Abbreviation : HoMM2
Publisher : New World Computing
Platforms : DOS & Windows 95
Released : 11/96
Official website : http://www.nwcomputing.com/heroes2/
Multiplayer : Up to 6, IPX and TCP/IP, null modem, hot-seat
People seem to be loving it. Adds more units, more room on the
battlefield, improved multiplayer and a scenario editor.

iM1A2 ABRAMS TANK
: Interactive Magic
Platfom : Windows 95
Demo : http://www.imagicgames.com/demos.html
Has been described as M1 Tank Platoon jazzed up.

JAGGED ALLIANCE
Abbreviation : JA
Publisher : Sir-tech
Latest patch : 1.13
Patch location : http://sir-tech.com/tech/ja_113.zip
Demo : http://sir-tech.com/tech/jademo.zip
Technical FAQ : http://sir-tech.com/tech/jagged.html
Brilliant turn-based strategy game. 'XCOM with attitude' was one
description. Sir-tech's technical support page is quite hard to get
into, so for patches & demos I suggest you go to OGR, Compuserve or
this page :
: http://www.braxi.com/garcia/deadly.html

JAGGED ALLIANCE: DEADLY GAMES
Abbreviation : JA:DG
Demo : http://www.sir-tech.com/demos/
Latest patch : 1.12 (make sure you don't get the JA one!)
Patch location : http://sir-tech.com/tech/dg112.zip
: ftp://ftp.ogr.com/pub/ogr/demos/dg112.zip
'Harder than the original but more fun' was one comment
It seems that Sir-Tech accidentally included a mercenary editor in the
initial release of
the JA:DG demo. The editor allows you to change not only the visible
traits of any mercenary, such as sex, body type, salary, and skills,
but also many hidden traits, like as which other mercs he likes and
dislikes (lists have been published here - goto DejaNews). But the
file format was changed after the 'turn limits' patch, so it doesn't
work.
Links :
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/sirtech/dgmerc.htm
http://latte.cafe.net/usr/blade/ja2.html
Merc stats : http://www.pcug.org.au/~psvansch/jagged.zip
Merc Contracting Centre : http://www.terravirtua.com/jadg/

LAST BLITZKRIEG
Scheduled : 3/97
Publisher : SSG
Official website : http://www.ssg.com.au/index_files/blitzkrieg.html
Regimental level sim of the Battle of the Bulge. Win95 only, SVGA.

LORDS OF THE REALM 2
Scheduled : 11/96
Abbreviation : LOTR2
Developer : Impressions (David Lester)
Publisher : Sierra
Platform : Windows 95
Demo :
http://www.sierra.com/entertainment/lords2/demo.html
Turn-based medieval empire game. Needs DirectX v2. Multiplayer allow
time-limited simul-turns.

MAGIC: THE GATHERING
Scheduled : November 96
Official website : http://www.microprose.com/magic/game.html
Long awaited version of the card trading game discussed in
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.*
Lots of pages already around.

MASTER OF MAGIC
Abbreviation : MoM
Developer : Simtex
Publisher : Microprose
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/gamespage/backproducts/backproductpages/masterofm.html
Latest version : 1.31 (major improvements and bug fixes)
Patch location :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/new-versions/mom131.zip
Demo :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/demos/momdemo.zip
Multiplayer : Hotseat with 3rd party Multiplayer Master of Magic
Shell (MMoMS)
Technical FAQ : http://www.microprose.com/momfaq.html
MOM & Win95 : http://www.proaxis.com/~jarvinen/magic/win95.htm
Fantasy Civ/MOO-like game. 'At first your magical powers are weak,
but will grow as you research spells and acquire magical resources.
You send out colonies to expand your borders. Your armies and magical
creatures search for treasure, expand your empire by conquest, and
defend your realm from rampaging monsters and enemy wizards. As your
fame grows, powerful heros join your cause. To win you must either
defeat all the other wizards or become powerful enough to cast the
awesome Spell of Mastery. Of course, the other Wizards are trying to
defeat you.'
There are 6 type of magic and 14 races to play.(all from Bryan
Jacobson's FAQ) AI not great.
Version 1.31 fails to fix the "Raise Dead Bug", where casting Raise
Dead in combat scrambles the memory location where the galley stats
are stored. If you quit and reload, everything is reset but if you
continue playing without restarting you'll be facing 'wonder galleys'!
To get it to work under Win95, select 'no sound' or don't run in a DOS
box.
FAQ : http://www.proaxis.com/~jarvinen/magic/momfaq.zip
unofficial pages : http://www.proaxis.com/~jarvinen/magic/magic.shtml
: http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/ee43cs/mom/
MOMedit :
http://cosyfish.ab.umd.edu/~rdiblasi/software/index.html
MOM Heroes page : http://www.sound.net/%7Erearls/index.html
MMoMS : http://users.aol.com/mmoms/mmoms.html
Unregistered version gives you 2 humans and 3 computer players;
registering gives you 5 humans.

MASTER OF MAGIC 2
Scheduled : In development
Abbreviation : MoM2
Developer : Knightsoft
Official website : http://www.aloha.com/~knightsoft/mom2/mom2.html
More than an expansion pack, MoM2 nonetheless requires MoM 1.31 to
work. It 'will completely change most apects of MoM and will create a
totally new and enhanced gaming exerpience.'
They want your suggestions !

MASTER OF ORION
Abbreviation : MOO
Developer : Simtex
Publisher : Microprose
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/gamespage/backproducts/backproductpages/moo.html
Latest version : 1.3
Patch location :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/new-versions/moov13.zip
Demo :
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/demos/moodemo.zip
One of the most popular strategy games ever. Space version of MOM -
as one of 10 races with different abilities, you make economic,
social, political, technological and military decisions in order to
conquer the Universe. Delete ORION.COM to allow CD-free running.

MASTER OF ORION 2: BATTLE AT ANTARES
Abbreviation : MOO2
Developer : Simtex
Publisher : Microprose
Released : 11/96, early Dec in UK
Platforms : DOS and Windows95? SVGA CD-ROM
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/moo2/moo2.html
Multiplayer : 1-8 players hotseat, modem, LAN, TEN
Big preview :
http://www.happypuppy.com/pulse/previews/pc/masterof.html
The most awaited game of the last year. Improves on MOO with
Stars!-style race customisation, MOM-style Heroes, trickier tech
decisions and fewer, more varied ships. See the above review for the
lowdown - claims to be based on 60+hours with the beta (it was also
posted, without permission, to c.s.i.p.g.s). Watch c.s.i.p.g.s turn
into c.s.i.p.g.MOO2 overnight!
Just hope Spectrum Holobyte (Microprose's parent) can keep going until
it comes out.
Anticipation page: http://www.sound.net/~krb/moa
http://www.gulftel.com/~guitar/
IRC : Undernet channel #moo2

M.A.X. - MECHANISED ASSAULT & EXPLORATION
Abbreviation : MAX
Publisher : Interplay (Gus Smedstad)
Platform : DOS SVGA
Official website : http://www.interplay.com/games/max.html
Multiplayer : 1-4 players, hotseat, modem, null modem, IPX, PBEM
Demo : ftp://ftp1.interplay.com/pub/demos/maxdemo1.zip
The blurb says "M.A.X.: Mechanized Assault & Exploration is the only
concurrent turn-based strategy wargame that combines
fully-customizable vehicles with "top-down" SVGA graphics, diverse
campaigns and multi-player action." Turnbased or simulturn Civ clone.
Good buzz.

MECHWARRIOR 2
Abbreviation : MW2
Publisher : Activision
Official website : http://www.activision.com/mech2home/index.html
Multiplayer : NetMech addon allows 8 players online
31st century combat
Expansion Pack : Ghost Bear's Legacy (more missions, mechs, weapons)
FAQ etc. : http://rom.oit.gatech.edu/~willday/mw2/mech2/
Editors etc. : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/5458/mw2.html
: http://www1.clarku.edu/~rmohns/mw2/mw2-frames.html
Newsgroup : alt.games.mechwarrior2

MECHWARRIOR 2: MERCENARIES
Abbreviation : MW2:M
Official website : http://www.activision.com/mechmerc/index.html
Official FAQ : http://www.activision.com/mercnet/mercfaq.htm
Latest edition for 'Mech'ers. Bit buggy - patch coming?
Unofficial FAQ :
http://rom.oit.gatech.edu/~willday/mw2/mercs/faq.html
Yahoo :
http://www.yahoo.com/Recreation/Games/Computer_Games/Titles/MechWarrior_2/
Webpages : http://netnow.micron.net/~jmcclain/mech2/mercs.htm
:
http://www.lookup.com/Homepages/69636/mw/ms_home.html
: http://rampages.onramp.net/~val/merc.htm
Newsgroup : alt.games.mechwarrior2

MISSION FORCE: CYBER STORM
Publisher : Sierra
Official website : http://www.sierra.com/entertainment/cyberstorm/
http://www.sierra.com/games/cyberstorm/
Multiplayer : Yes - head-to-head & team - buddy CD
Demo : ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/demo/mfcsdemo.exe
Turn based strategy game in the Battletech universe, bit like Xcom or
JA. 80 missions and multiplayer campaign possible. Bugfree but no
manual and dodgy installation routine.
Quite good, replayability questionable.
Web page : http://www.sover.net/~nwillis/index.htm
Hacked savegame : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/3805/

MUZZLE VELOCITY
Abbreviation : MV
Scheduled : 11/96
Latest version : 1.21
Demo : http://www.digi4fun-uk.com/downloadf.htm
: ftp://ftp.eunet.ch/customers/digi4fun/digi4fun.html
Apparently "What Across the Rhine should have been". Give orders to
yur troops in C&C-style overhead view, then join tanks or people on
the ground in a Doom style view. Demo has 6 missions, full release
will have 147. US, British or German perspective.

NORSE BY NORSEWEST - THE RETURN OF THE LOST VIKINGS
Official website : http://www.interplay.com/games/nbynw.html

OPERATION CRUSADER
Good, older boardgame by Atomic.
http://205.180.52.4/leadeaters/

OVER THE REICH
Scheduled : Mastering on 22/Oct/96
Developer : Big Sky Software?
Publisher : Avalon Hill
Official website : http://members.aol.com/ahgames/comp04.html
Demo : ftp://ftp.bigtimesoftware.com/pub/otr/sotrdemo.zip
"Reminds me of the board game Air Force/Dauntless with quite a few
less planes to fly."

PANTHERS IN THE SHADOWS
Abbreviation : PitS
Sites tend to cover PitS in conjunction with Tigers on the Prowl, so
see the ToP section.

PANZER GENERAL
Abbreviation : PzG (_not_ PG)
Publisher : SSI (see also Definitive Wargames Collection 2)
Official website :
http://www.ssionline.com/games/ssi/panzer/index.html
Multiplayer : No, but coming soon on TEN under SSI's Online Only
brand.
Latest patch : 1.2
Patch location : http://www.ssionline.com/support/index_support.html
Demo : http://www.mindscape.com/demos/PGENDEMO.EXE
Official FAQ :
http://www.ssionline.com/support/faqs/faq_panzer_gen.html
Another SSI triumph. You start out as a German tank commander in
Poland.
The Win95 version has restrictions on building units, as in Allied
General (the sequel, qv), increasing realism over PzG DOS.
Scenarios :
http://www.JointChiefsPub.com/dow/generals_scenarios.htm
Utilities, addons: http://www.wargamer.com/pg/addons/

PATRIOT
Avoid. So buggy it's unplayable. Ranked worst game ever by 11/96 CGW.
(Old Salt & others)

PAX IMPERIA 2
Scheduled : 'Pax Imperia 2 will not be coming out in the near
future' (Brandon Curiel)
Company website : http://www.thq.com
Changeling Software, Inc turned into Changeling, Inc (Macs) and
Heliotrope Studios(development).
Heliotrope was taken over by T-HQ, who are now producing Pax2,
although there is no news about it yet - keep an eye on their website.

PLANETARY RAIDERS
Publisher : ICI games
Official website : http://www.icigames.com/pr/
"New mega-player internet game"

PERFECT GENERAL
Abbreviation : PG

PIRATES GOLD!
Publisher : Microprose
Platforms : DOS and now Windows 3.x

POWERDOLLS
Developer : Megatech
Official website : http://www.megatech-software.com/Dolls.html
Demo : available
OK tactical wargame, if not in the league of Steel Panthers

RAILROAD TYCOON
Publisher : Microprose
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/gamespage/backproducts/backproductpages/rrtycoon.html

REACH FOR THE STARS 2
Scheduled : Autumn 97
Developer : SSG
Publisher : Microsoft
Platform : Win95 only, SVGA
Official website : http://www.ssg.com.au/index_files/RFTS.html
Update of the space exploration and conquest game. SSG are inviting
suggestions!

RED ALERT - see COMMAND AND CONQUER: RED ALERT

RISE & RULE OF ANCIENT EMPIRES
Publisher : Sierra
Platform : Windows 95 (or Win3.x + Win32s)
Official website : http://www.sierra.com/entertainment/riserule/
Strategic empire building 5000B.C. - Roman Empire.

ROAD TO MOSCOW
Scheduled : November 96 or Jan 97
Developers : Arsenal Publishing
Platform : Windows 95
Demo : available in 'early October'
Preview : the November issue of PC Gamer magazine
Take the role of the German or Soviet Chief of Staff on the Eastern
Front in WWII, assigning generals to command your corps.'RtM ... has
thousands of units and thousands of strategic possibilities. Neither
they nor Arsenal have any intention of releasing a game of this size
without a thorough testing. The best I can tell you at this moment is
that either RtM will be on store shelves by Thanksgiving or right
after New Year's Day. '

ROAD TO PARIS
Scheduled : Xmas 97

ROBERT E. LEE: CIVIL WAR GENERAL - See Civil War General

SERFS (Europe)/ SETTLERS (N. America)

SETTLERS 2
Publisher : Blue Byte
Official website :
http://www.bluebyte.com/us/products/settlers2/settlers2.htm
Demo : ftp://ftp.bluebyte.com/public/demos/settlers2.zip
Latest version : v1.02 - even Germans make mistakes!
Buildings-based Civ-like game
FAQ : http://www.nis.za/homepgs/leibold/

http://www.cis.tu-graz.ac.at/home/passera/siedler2/faq.htm
Web page http://rs6000.tU-chel.ac.ru/whatsnew/settlers2/

SILENT HUNTER
Publisher : SSI
Latest version : 1.1
Demo : http://www.ssionline.com/demos/shdemo.exe
"Command a WWII American submarine in the Pacific - and sink as much
enemy tonnage as possible! Choose from a variety of American subs,
including such classes as Gato, Balao, Tambour, and Salmon. Then, let
the hunt begin! Prowl the shipping lanes. Steal into enemy harbors.
Play individual missions or an entire campaign."
For details of the patch, goto Dejanews and find : 'SILENT HUNTER v1.1
Update Available'
Now discussed in c.s.i.p.g.naval

SIM CITY 2000
Abbreviation : SC2000
Official site:
http://www.maxis.com/shopping/product.cgi?ProductName=simcity2000_network_edition
Multiplayer : with SimCity 2000 Network Edition
Demo :
ftp://ftp.maxis.com/pub/maxis/demos/windows/setup2knet.exe
I'm not convinced this belongs here, as it lacks the element of
competition usually found in strategy games, but the original is
explicitly mentioned in the charter <shrug>
FAQ : http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~hanson/FAQ/
NE challenge brd : http://www.wizweb.com/arena/SimCity/

SPACEWARD HO! 4
Publisher : New World Computing
Platforms : Windows 95, Mac
Released : 10/96
Official website http://www.nwcomputing.com/spaceho/
Some of the early CDs had problems - the new ones have red letters on
a black CD, the reverse of the old ones. Some also disagree with
Toshiba & Teac dives. Get a replacement.
General impression is pretty favourable - sounds MOO like (?)
An explanation of how to get it working over the Net was posted as
"Spaceward Ho! for Win95 DOES work over the internet!" - search
www.dejanews.com for it.

STAR CONTROL 2
Abbreviation : StarCon2
Developer : Crystal Dynamics (Paul Reiche III & Fred Ford)
Publisher : Accolade
Official website : http://www.accolade.com
Hugely popular space conquest game, with great music. Available in a
pack with StarCon1 (Star Control Collection); stands up well compared
to Starcon3. Funnier, too.
Website :
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/users/j/jchinn/public/starcon.htm
Music as .MOD :
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ac/accolade/starcontrol2/sc2_mods.zip
Sound effect.WAVs:
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ac/accolade/starcontrol2/sc2_wav.exe

STAR CONTROL 3
Abbreviation : StarCon3
Developer : Legend Entertainment
Publisher : Accolade
Official website :
http://www.accolade.com/products/starcontrol3/index.html
Released : 10/96
Multiplayer : 2 player IPX, modem, null modem
Demo :
http://www.accolade.com/products/starcontrol3/acscdemo01.html
Sound effect.WAVs:
http://www.accolade.com/products/starcontrol3/acsctoy01.html
"STAR CONTROL 3 features intense alien interaction, space combat and
space exploration. Interstellar civilization is in chaos. The fabric
of hyper space has been torn asunder, and a disaster of cosmic
proportions threatens to wipe out all signs of intelligent life. Your
only salvation lies in the secrets of a lost civilization hidden
within the galactic core. To survive, you must command a massive fleet
of alien allies in an expedition to the heart of the galaxy. Encounter
bizarre and ruthless races, negotiate sophisticated treaties and
engage in fast-action space combat."
Consensus is a slight feeling of disappointment - typical sequel not
done by the original creators.
Walkthrough : http://www.borg.com/~mlam/starcon3.htm
Webpage : http://hcirisc.cs.binghamton.edu/~tim/starcon3.html

STARCRAFT
Scheduled : Q1 1996
Publisher : Blizzard
Platforms : Win95, Mac
Official website : http://www.blizzard.com/star/star.htm
Starcraft is a real-time strategy game of interstellar combat. Three
races- Terran, Protoss, and Zurg- collide in their attempts to gain
dominance. As the military leader for your race, you must gather the
resources you need to train and expand your military to accomplish
your goals, be it freedom or galactic domination.
FAQ : http://www.inforamp.net/~crs0642/starc.htm

STAR GENERAL
Scheduled : mid 11/96
Abbreviation : SG
Developer : Catware
Publisher : SSI
Official website : http://www.catware.com/stargen.html
Demo : is out
win95 saver : http://www.catware.com/sgss.zip
Demo has been reported to be tad disappointing. MOOish.

STARFALL
Official website : http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bcasey/starfall.html
Shareware version of board game

STARS!
Designers : Jeff Johnson & Jeff McBride
Distributor : WebMap Internet Services
http://www.webmap.com/stars!
Platform : Windows
Official website : http://beast.webmap.com/stars%21/stargate.htm
Latest version : 2.6
Very popular shareware space exploration game
All discussion should take place in the long awaited
rec.games.computer.stars group.

STEEL PANTHERS
Abbreviation : SP
Publisher : SSI
Platform : SVGA DOS CD-ROM
Official website :http://www.ssionline.com/games/ssi/steel/index.html
Novastar site : http://www.vfr.net/~novastar/steel.htm
Latest version : 1.2n - the patch is a must
Patch location : http://www.ssionline.com/patches/update13.html
FAQ :
http://www.ssionline.com/support/faqs/faq_steel_panthers.html
The definitive turn-based tank sim? Maybe. WWII tactical squad-level
combat with campaign,
random scenario and scenario editor. Command an entire battalion or a
single squad, as any Allied or Axis nation, and go tank-to-tank.
Scenarios : http://www.wargamer.com/sp/scenario/
Utilities, addons etc.: http://www.wargamer.com/sp/addons/
http://users.vscht.cz/~bolekd
http://www.kansas.net/~snakes/index.html

STEEL PANTHERS CAMPAIGNS
Official website :
http://www.ssionline.com/games/ssi/steelcamp/index.html
3 campaigns & 35 stand-alone scenarios for SP

STEEL PANTHERS 2: MODERN BATTLES
Publisher : SSI (Gary Grigsby)
Released : 11/96
Official website : http://www.ssionline.com/products/steel2/index.html
Demo : ftp://ftp.ssionline.com/pub/demos/sp2demo.exe

:
http://www.ogr.com/features/strategy/strategy2.html
People seem to be getting pretty excited about the demo. WWII to
Desert Storm. Multiplayer

SYNDICATE
Multiplayer : IPX, only with Syndicate Plus

SYNDICATE WARS
Scheduled : 11/96
Developer : Bullfrog
Platform : PC, PSX, Saturn
Multiplayer : 8 player LAN, 'full modem support'
Demo : is out
Official website :
http://www.bullfrog.co.uk/games/syndicate-wars/index.html

TACOPS/ TACOPS FOR WINDOWS
Developer : Arsenal Publishing
Official website : http://www.arsenalpub.com/
Multiplayer : lots
Latest version : 1.04
Patch available : http://www.arsenalpub.com/tacops/update.html
FAQ : http://www.arsenalpub.com/tacops/faqhome.html
Detailed simultaneous turn-based strategy game. Opinions divide
sharply e.g. August CGW hated it, PC Gamer gave it an Editor's Choice.
Great AI, less good elsewhere.
Web page : http://www.JointChiefsPub.com/dow/tacops.htm

TANKS!
Publisher : SSI (Norm Koger)
Released : 1994
Platform : DOS VGA
Latest version : 1.30
Patch location : Norm's page, I think (see AOR) or SSI
Tactical platoon-level tank sim 1918-1990s. Scenario editor and random
generator. Brilliant.
1994 Wargame of the Year. Wargame Construction Set 2 - AOR (qv) is
the 'sequel.
Commercial scenarios : http://www.vfr.net/~novastar/tanks.htm

THIRD REICH
Abbreviation : 3R
Publisher : Avalon Hill
Released : 10/96
Platform : VGA
Official website : http://members.aol.com/ahgames/comp02.html
Multiplayer : NO! Modem & LAN to come in a patch
Latest version : 1.22
Patch location : ftp://members.aol.com/tanhadron/pub/3r1_22.zip
Demo : Not yet available - see
http://members.aol.com/ahgames/gallery.html
Faithful port of the AH boardgame. People seem to like it, although
there is the odd bug and the manual's not great. The patch helps; in
particular, it tweaks the AI to defend the UK better [hurrah!! - Ed.].

TIGERS ON THE PROWL
Latest version : 1.26
Patch location : http://members.aol.com/gsturmer3/top-126.exe

TIGERS ON THE PROWL 2
Publisher : HPS Simulations
Official website : http://www.cris.com/~Sturmer/
Latest version : 2.03
Patch location : http://members.aol.com/gsturmer/top-203.exe
Another tank sim.
: http://www.cris.com/~sturmer/newtop2.html
PBEM club (Top & PitS : http://www.concentric.net/~rumbler/pits.htm

TOTAL MAYHEM (N. America)/ TOTAL MANIA (Europe)
Publisher : Domark
Official website : http://www.domark.com/mayhem/totalmayem.html
Demo (US) : http://www.domark.com/mayhem/tmdemo.zip
Demo (European) : http://www.domark.com/mayhem/tmndemo.zip
"Man is a slave race on a planet run entirely by machines. Calling
themselves the Mayhem Soldiers, a small group of Cyborg freedom
fighters wage a libertarian war against the machines that hold society
in a death grip. Battle alone or with your friends over a
multi-player network using high technology weapons and strategic
combat tactics."
Syndicate-like game.

TRANSPORT TYCOON DELUXE
http://www.netzone.com/~metcalfm/tycoon/tycoon.htm

UFO: ENEMY UNKNOWN - Name of XCOM: UFO Defense (qv) in Europe

V FOR VICTORY
Developer : Atomic
Publisher : Intracorp
Official website : http://www.atomic.com/v4v.html
Good wargame series, all now available on 1 CD. See also Definitive
Wargames Collection.

VGA-PLANETS
Official website : http://www.wilmington.net/vgaplanets/
Platforms : DOS, Windows
Multiplayer : 2-11 PBEM
VGA Planets is a graphical, multi-player, play by electronic mail,
space war game. This game simulates
combat in space between galactic scale empires. The game emphasizes
colonization of space and the
development of the planets that you will find, colonize and/or
conquer. How well you develop these resources
will determine what kind of starships (freighters and capital ships)
you will be able to produce and how well you
will be able to defend your space and attack your neighbors.

WAGES OF WAR
Scheduled : 11/96
Publisher : North-west Computing
Platforms : Windows95, Mac
Official website : http://www.nwcomputing.com/wages/
"Wages of War is an intense strategy wargame involving astute business
negotiation and squad-level, commando-style warfare. The game takes
place in a futuristic world where government and large corporations
have turned to small bands of mercenaries to do their dirty work. The
player assumes the role of a young entrepreneur trying to make it big
in the cut-throat business of soldiers-for-hire. Success won't be easy
because in Wages in War, you can kick ass on the battlefield, but if
you don't turn a profit, you're out of business."

WARCRAFT : ORCS AND HUMANS
Abbreviation : WC1
Publisher : Blizzard Entertainment, P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA
92713
Platforms : MS-DOS floppies or CD-ROM, Mac
Released : ?
Official website : http://www.blizzard.com/war1/war1.htm
Multiplayer : Serial cable, modem, IPX (2 players)
Demo (1.5Mb) : ftp://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/demos/war1demo.zip
Latest version : 1.21
Patch location : http://www.blizzard.com/bin/warcr121.exe
Real time fantasy strategy game, as you control the humans or orcs in
the fight for the land of Azeroth. Build a thriving economy and a
military machine to defeat your opponents.
FAQ : ??
Websites : http://users.aol.com/OrcsHumans/warcraft.html
Usenet : alt.games.warcraft

WARCRAFT 2: TIDES OF DARKNESS
Abbreviation : WC2
Publisher : Blizzard Entertainment, P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA
92713
Platforms : MS-DOS SVGA CD-ROM, Mac version coming/ already
out?
Released : ?
Official website : http://www.blizzard.com/war2/war2.htm
Multiplayer : Serial cable, modem, IPX (up to 8 players), Kali
(v1.2 upwards)
Latest version : The Beyond the Dark Portal expansion set has extra
levels and version 1.3
Patch : v1.2 patch adds Kali support and other fixes/
improvements Now 1.33!
Patch location : http://www.blizzard.com/library/patches.htm
Demo (11Mb) : http://www.blizzard.com/library/war2ibm.htm
You control armies of humans (and their allies) or orcs (and their
allies). You must produce buildings and harvest resources to train
troops and defeat the enemy. Humans can cast a wider variety of
useful spells, whilst weapons upgrades cost each side different
amounts.
Excellent game for multiplayer, justly popular.
FAQ : http://www.ogr.com/faqs/warcraft2.faq
also at :
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/4006/war2faq.txt
Websites :
http://www.yahoo.com/Recreation/Games/Computer_Games/Genres/Strategy/Titles/Warcraft/

http://www2.dk-online.dk/users/Thomas_N_Larsen/Strateg.htm
: http://www.andrews.edu/~fraizer/war2.cgi
: http://www.gamespot.com/features/wc2/index.html
: http://www.mtsu.edu/~csc10001/strat.html
Kali league pages: http://www.oz.net/~iwl/iwl.htm
: http://home.netinc.ca/~amolnar/war2/inwl.htm
Usenet : alt.games.warcraft
(adapted from Dan Zerkle's (zer...@cs.ucdavis.edu) FAQ by me)

WARHAMMER: THE SHADOW OF THE HORNED RAT
Abbreviation : WSOTHR
Publisher : Mindscape
Official page :
http://www.mindscape.com/msgames/Entertainment/WHRat/index.html
Sounds MOMish

WARLORDS 2 & WARLORDS 2 DELUXE
Publisher : SSG
Official website :
http://www.ssg.com.au/index_files/warlords_ii_home.html
Warlords II is the world's favourite fantasy stategy game. Starting
with a single castle, you must build your armies, marshall your forces
and conquer the entire world, before your mean and avaricious
neighbours do the same. With random worlds, hidden maps, quests,
diplomacy and super smart computer opponents, Warlords II offers an
entire world of conquest."
"Warlords II Deluxe is a completely new edition of the best selling
fantasy strategy game. It features network, modem and E-Mail play, new
256 colour SVGA graphics, an improved movement system and faster
gameplay. Warlords II Deluxe also includes an enhanced Warlords II
Scenario Builder and 60 Warlords scenarios in an absolutely unbeatable
CD-ROM package.

WARLORDS 3
Scheduled : Autumn 97
Developer : SSG
Publisgher : Broderbund
Official website : http://www.ssg.com.au/index_files/WLIII.html
Multiplayer : Up to 8 players!
It's the sequel to Warlords 2 (No!). So another fantasy
explore-and-expand game.
SSG are inviting suggestions!

WARWIND
Scheduled : 10/96
Publisher : SSI
Official website : http://www.ssionline.com/warwind/warwind.html
Demo (33Mb!) :
http://www.ssionline.com/cgi-bin/download.cgi?demos/WW_DEMO.EXE
SSI's take on Warcraft 2

WOODEN SHIPS & IRON MEN
Abbreviation : WS&IM
Publisher : Avalon Hill
Platform : SVGA
Official site : http://members.aol.com/ahgames/comp03.html
Released : 10/96
Demo : not yet available?
People seem a bit disappointed, but are waiting to compare it with Age
of Sail (qv).
Now belongs in c.s.i.p.g.naval

WORLD AT WAR
Developer : Atomic
Official website : http://www.atomic.com/watw.html

XCOM: UFO DEFENSE (N. America)/ UFO: ENEMY UNKNOWN (Europe)
Developer : Mythos?
Publisher : Microprose
Platforms : MS-DOS, Playstation
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/gamespage/backproducts/backproductpages/xcomtufo.html
Patch : v1.4 includes major sound upgrades
Patch location : http://microprose.com/
FAQ : http://members.aol.com/ksc1/docs/xcom1usg.zip
Websites : http://www.surfchem.kth.se/~aa/xcom/xcom.html
:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/andrew/usr/gd2d/www/xcom.html
:
http://www.franken.de/users/speedy/hakan/hobbies/games/xcom/Welcome-e.html
http://www.surfchem.kth.se/~aa/xcom/xcom.html
XCOMUtil page : http://www.comland.com/~stjones/xcomutil
A novel by Diane Duane, based on XCOM, is available from Prima Books
(ISBN 0-7615-0235-1), but isn't recommended
(adapted from Kasey Chang's (ksc...@sfsu.edu) pages by me). Also
thanks to Scott Jones <stj...@austin.ibm.com>

XCOM2: TERROR FROM THE DEEP
Abbreviation : XCOM2
Publisher : Microprose
Official website :
http://www.microprose.com/gamesdesign/gamespage/backproducts/backproductpages/xcomterror.html
Latest version : v2 and new Geoscape file ?
Start with Kasey Chang's Unofficial Strategy Guide - it's excellent,
all 178Kb of it!
USG (zipped) : http://members.aol.com/ksc1/docs/xcom2usg.zip
USG HTML : http://www.netropolis.net/dyrc/Xcom2/fr-xcom2.htm
: and Gamesdomain
Website : http://userwww.sfsu.edu/%7Ekschang/gamex01.htm
: http://happypuppy.com/games/faqcht/xcom2cht.htm
:
http://www.franken.de/users/speedy/hakan/hobbies/games/tftd/Welcome-e.html
(adapted from Kasey Chang's page (ksc...@sfsu.edu))

XCOM3 : THE APOCALYPSE (provisional title)
Developer : Mythos?
Publisher : Microprose
Preview page :
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/2777/xcom3.html
http://www.gulftel.com/~guitar/

Z :- BY THE BITMAP BROTHERS
Publisher : Virgin
Official website : http://www.bitmap-brothers.co.uk/
http://www.vie.com
Multiplayer : IPX
Unofficial website:http://www.monash.edu.au/~remah1
C&C clone with less resource management and some humour. Generally
liked.
Z editor : http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/5458/z.html

ZAPATALISM
Developer : Lavamind
Official website : http://www.zapitalism.com

All trademarks and copyrights acknowledged. Not for commercial
distribution.

[Cloudman]

<the thread so far :

On Mon, 13 Jan 1997 18:36:03 GMT, stay...@netcom.com (Paul Cho)

delighted us with a list of games he would like to sell

Then, in article <32e49a50...@netnews2.worldnet.att.net>, Re...@the.faq
suggested that Mr Cho might like to read my c.s.i.p.g.s FAQ, and then posted
(an out-of-date version of) same. The point Mr the.faq was making was that
Want-to-buy/trade/sell adverts belong in c.s.i.p.g.marketplace ONLY. >

Few points :

1. Putting ads in the marketplace group only is more a matter of knowledge &
common sense (plus a glance at the charters of the c.s.i.p.g.* groups).
Posting the FAQ was unnecessary, a polite email would have sufficed.

2. It wasn't me, the author of the c.s.i.p.g.s. FAQ, that posted all 2000-odd
lines of said FAQ, a November edition at that. While some customers of
worldnet.att.net have been most supportive of my efforts, I am not a customer
of theirs. You can imagine how I felt, paying (phone time) for the privilege
of D/Ling my own FAQ!!
I have merely been posting the URL (see my sig) where a zipped version of the
latest FAQ can be found (plus a currently unformatted HTML version - sorry,
low priority at present). When I get the thing more or less to my
satisfaction, I will post once here, then get it approved for news.answers

3. This is because I don't feel this is the place for repeated postings of
long documents - posts to this group get bounced off news servers too quickly
as it is. Mr the.faq might care to read Part 1 of the FAQ, the bit entitled
WHAT POSTS ARE INAPPROPRIATE?
6. Binaries and other long files
The FAQ was never meant to be a full guide to Netiquette, and I feel a bit
uncomfortable referring people to it for such, but Mr the.faq seems to hold it
in high regard, so I thought he would appreciate the pointer.

Hope this clears things up

Cloudman
----------------------------------------
Real email : ain...@cloud9.u-net.com
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic FAQ : http://www.personal.u-net.com/~cloud9/apsa/games/csipgs.htm
My favourite Usenet words : <snip>, [source:...], (was...)
My favourite Usenet thought : "That doesn't need to go to the newsgroup, I'll email it instead"