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By Al Giovetti
Price:TBA
Genre:strategy
Release:Summer 1997
Developer: Titanic Entertainment
Lead Artist:
Programmer:
Producer:Ken Demerest
Publisher: Activision
Phone: 800-477-3650, 310-473-9200
Website: www.activision.com
Requirements:Windows 95
Netstorm
History
Ken Demerest used to work for Origin where he was lead programer on Ultima VII, BioForge, and started on Ultima Online. Ken left Origin to form his own company, Titanic Entertainment, which focuses on producing games for the internet.
Ken Demarest and Titanic Entertainment have worked on many cinematic games.
Company Line
Game Play
Like in other real-time strategy games you develop resources, build structures, and fight with each other. The difference here is that the structures are a part of a large floating island in the sky that battles other large islands, similar to two large battleships. Access to adjascent islands is by building bridge-like structures.
A commerically available CD product , called War College witll have over 30 scripted missions that will help to teach would be island jockeys how to build and battle with the island fortresses. There are 24 unique combat pieces
Building certain units give the player certain skills such as mobile spying and scouting units and over 20 stationary units, including Solar Collector, cannons, sun fences, windmills, crystal crabs, jacob's ladder, and bulwarks. Units act automatically to fulfill their function once placed.
Plot
In a far away fantasy world called Nimbus, where the forces of rane, wind and thunder control the forces of the land, combattants build cities on floating islands by developing resources, and building stationary units. The people who roam the lands of Nimbus are called Nimbians.
The land of Nimbus is divided into three spheres, Deusphere, pyrosphere, and Serenisphere. The Deusphere is at the center of the world. New islands and storms appear out of the Deusphere and enter the Pyrosphere. When the islands enter the Pyrosphere, the Nimbians fight to control them. The first step is to set up a Power Vortex on the island which can be used to power the island and move it into the Serenisphere, where the Nimbians build their world peacefully.
The units form the basis for battle when one island creates bridges close to another land or island. Roads built out from one island to the other form thebasis for the attacking hordes and supply lines. You take the role of one of these lords and command an island against your enemies in a multiplayer online universe.
The three furies of rain, wind and thunder provide all storm power, which is essential to creation. As the ruler of a new island, your task is to deliver your people and your island to the Serenisphere and beyond.
Graphics
Animation
Voice Actors
Music Score
Sound Effects
Utilities
There is a training mode in the single player game that starts you with just a few units and steadily increases the units as you go along. This gradual introduction is different than the multi-player game where all the units and controls are at your disposal.Multi-player Features
The multiplayer games will involve up to eight human combattants online at one time. Up to groups of 30 combattants can be online while participating in different battles on the same playing field. If you are dropped from your service, your islands will continue to fight under computer control allowing you to log on and take up where you dropped out. Thus, line problems, which often terminate battles in cyberspace will become annoying but not fatal.The game is playable on as slow as a 4800 Kbps modem. An integrated chat and player matching environment which will help you find opponents of equal skill and resource level, find past opponents and friends, have true allies and enemies, and mske spying and spy information a useful resource. The only online game that I played where all these factors were important was The old Mechwarrior I game from GEnie called Multiplayer Battletech.
Cheats, Hints, Walkthrough
Journalists
References
Rob Smith, PC Games, volume 4, number 4, April, 1997, pg. 62.Andrew Sanchez, Boot, volume 2, number 8, April, 1997, pg. 74.