### Online Connection

#### Fun and Games

Matthew Jones

When you are at work, you have to use the Internet primarily as a business tool--one that enables you to distribute corporate information and to communicate with your company's partners, suppliers, and customers. When you need to relax after a stressful day at the office, however, you can use the Internet for a more frivolous purpose: You can play multiplayer games with users all over the world by visiting the World-Wide Web sites mentioned in this article. You can also unwind by checking out this month's network resources and games, or you can get back to business by taking a look at this month's new products. (See "Product Snapshots.")

#### INTERNET SITES

Total Entertainment Network (http://www.ten.net) allows you to play some of today's most popular multiplayer games with other users over the Internet. For example, you can play Diablo, Quake, and Warcraft if you download the free Total Entertainment Network software. Using the latest version of this Java-based software, you can play games directly from your web browser. (In some cases, you must purchase the retail version of the game as well.)

To use Total Entertainment Network, you must also register as a member by choosing one of four pricing plans:

- Free Rate Plan. If you choose this pricing plan, you can play Shadow Warrior and Total Annihilation for free.
- Hourly Rate Plan. If you choose this pricing plan, you pay U.S. $9.95 per month for five hours of game playing and U.S. $1.95 per hour for each additional hour.
- Flat Rate Plan. If you choose this pricing plan, you pay U.S. $19.95 per month for unlimited game playing.
- Bulk Rate Plan. If you choose this pricing plan, you pay U.S. $39.90 for three months of unlimited game playing.

When you become a member, you automatically receive five free hours of game-playing time. Total Entertainment Network supports only Windows 95 and Windows NT running Netscape Communicator 4.0 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher.

Unlike Total Entertainment Network, Mplayer (http://www.mplayer.com) is a free service. Without paying anything, you can play multiplayer games such as Quake and Links LS '98. All you have to do is download the free Gizmo Game Launcher software, which is available only for Windows 95 and Windows NT.

Although you can play most multiplayer games at no charge, you can play additional games by purchasing an Mplayer Plus membership, which costs U.S. $39.95 per year (or U.S. $24.95 per year if you purchase a two-year membership). This membership allows you to play Command & Conquer, Diablo, Warcraft, and more. The membership, which includes a one-year subscription to PC Games magazine, also allows you to get sneak previews of new multiplayer games.

Internet Gaming Zone (http://www.zone.com) is another free service that offers a variety of multiplayer games. For example, you can play Age of Empires, Jedi Knight, and Monster Truck Madness. You can also find other users with whom to play your favorite DOS-based games that use IPX, such as DOOM.

Before you can begin playing multiplayer games, you must download the free Internet Gaming Zone software. Internet Gaming Zone supports only Windows 95 or Windows NT running Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or higher.

If you want to win prizes by playing multiplayer games, Heat.net (http://www.heat.net) is the web site to visit. You can play multiplayer games such as Duke Nukem 3D, Net Fighter, and Postal if you download the free Katalyst software. As you play, you earn frequent-player points, which you can exchange for retail versions of multiplayer games and other prizes.

Because Heat.net is a free service, you can play all of the multiplayer games at no charge. Heat.net supports only Windows 95 or Windows NT running any Java-enabled web browser, such as Netscape Navigator 3.01 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or higher.

#### NETWORK RESOURCES

Drivers Headquarters (http://www.drivershq.com) offers one-stop shopping for updated hardware drivers. Instead of downloading drivers from one company's web site at a time, you can download drivers for all of your hardware from Drivers Headquarters. For example, you can download drivers for CD-ROM drives, SCSI controllers, network interface boards, printers, and modems. You can also download Driver Detective, a freeware utility for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 that can help you determine which version of a particular driver you are currently using.

NW Utility Library (http://www.wdn.com/ems/nwutil.htm) may not be free, but it's definitely a bargain. At this web site, you can get information about NW Utility Library, which is a set of CD-ROMs that contains more than 2,500 shareware and freeware utilities for intraNetWare and NetWare. You can begin by downloading a free text file that provides detailed descriptions of each utility. If you like what you see, you can then order NW Utility Library for U.S. $59.50. This product includes a searchable database that you can use to quickly locate the utilities you need.

#### STANDALONE GAME OF THE MONTH

Frogger from Hasbro Interactive is a CD-ROM version of the popular arcade game. Although the graphics in the CD-ROM version are far more advanced than the graphics in the arcade game, both of these games are based on the same concept: You must successfully guide a virtual frog through a series of obstacles, such as a traffic-filled highway, so that you can gather several flags on the other side of these obstacles. After you have gathered all of the flags available for a particular game level, you move up to the next level, which presents more challenging obstacles.

Frogger contains 35 game levels, which include a variety of terrains. For example, as you progress from one game level to another, the setting changes, moving from a highway to a meadow, a river, a factory, a forest, and a desert. In these game levels, you take to the skies on the backs of birds and cross treacherous bodies of water on the backs of turtles. You also face down bees, hawks, squirrels, and other formidable creatures (formidable to a frog, that is).

Frogger is available for Windows 95 and Sony Playstation. You can purchase Frogger through retail channels at the suggested retail price of U.S. $39.99. For more information about Frogger, visit the official Frogger web site (http://www.frogger.com). You can also call 1-800-242-7276 or 1-978-927-7600.

#### NETWORK GAME OF THE MONTH

StarCraft from Blizzard Software is the latest game released by the same company that has produced a long line of best-selling games, such as Warcraft and Diablo. StarCraft takes place in the distant future when all humans, or Terrans, are exiled from Earth and are then forced to fight other species that want to destroy them.

To play StarCraft, you must control one of three possible species, each of which has a different set of strengths:

- The Terran species is highly mobile, using converted industrial vehicles and military bases to easily move from one world to another.
- The Protoss species has psionic abilities, which are used to form weapons and shields composed of pure energy.
- The Zerg species consists of biologically engineered creatures designed for maximum killing efficiency.

As the leader of your species, you must gather the resources necessary to train and expand the military so that you can defeat your enemies. To survive the war and dominate the entire galaxy, you must successfully complete three military campaigns, which feature 30 unique missions.

You can play StarCraft with one other person over a modem connection or over a serial connection. You can also play StarCraft with up to seven other people over an IPX-based network or over the Internet.

StarCraft is available for Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0, or Power Macintosh. You can purchase StarCraft through retail channels at the suggested retail price of U.S. $54.95. For more information about StarCraft, visit Blizzard Software's web site (http://www.blizzard.com). You can also call 1-800-953-7669 or 1-714-955-0283.

NetWare Connection, March 1998, pp.50-51