| Contents: Gaming |
|---|
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Arena: The Multiplayer Challenge Site | If you have an itch to play a multiplayer game but you can't find anyone willing to play, check out the Arena. Even if it's 2:00am where you live, there's bound to be someone who's got the same itch as you. Maybe someone's already posted his IP address and invited anyone to join. If not, you could always post an invitation and host a game yourself. |
| IHHD - Internet Head to Head Daemon | Do you have any games that only support multiplayer mode via null modem? Well now you can play them across the Internet! However, this program requires that you have a shell account, which not everyone has nowadays. Many people only have dial-up SLIP/PPP accounts, which is, sorry to say, just not good enough. |
| Kahn (StarGate Networks) |
Are you frustated at not being able to play IPX-based network games?
Well you're in luck, because StarGate Networks is the home of Kahn. What
is Kahn, you ask? "Kahn for Microsoft DOS and Microsoft Windows 95 turns your TCP/IP connection to the internet into a virtual IPX protocol network. Games that are built to allow network play will function across the Internet as well!" Kahn should allow you to use any IPX program over a TCP/IP network. I'm just guessing of course, since I've never actually tried anything other than games, but it seems to be a reasonable assumption. |
| Kali |
Kali is a program similar to Kahn. In fact, Kali was available before Kahn ever showed up and so probably has a larger user base. Unfortunately, the shareware version of Kali limits you to sessions lasting only 15-minutes each, so you aren't given much of an opportunity to test it out. The shareware version of Kahn has no such restriction. |
| Mplayer |
"Wander through Mplayer's web pages, sampling the virtual arcades until
you find a game you want to play. Check out the latest multiplayer games
and test your skills against millions of potential opponents. Meet other
players who want to play the same game you do. Participate in contests,
tournaments, and special events all oriented toward meeting other gamers
and encouraging friendly competition." The great thing about Mplayer is that it now offers free membership. However, its main disadvantage is that you can only play games for which Mplayer provides specific support (such as Diablo, Red Alert, or WarWind). Programs such as Kahn or Kali are much more flexible in this regard. |
| Netrek |
"Netrek is a 16-player graphical real-time battle simulation with a Star
Trek theme. The game is divided into two teams of 8 (or less), who dogfight
each other and attempt to conquer each other's planets. There are several
different types of ships, from fast, fragile scouts up to big, slow
battleships; this allows a great deal of variance in play styles." Although not as graphically rich as most games nowadays, you'd be surprised at how addictive Netrek can be. If you've got the time, this can keep you busy for hours! Netrek clients are available for a large variety of platforms. |
| The Realm | The Realm is an online graphical adventure game from Sierra.
Go on quests, fight monsters, or join a party consisting of other players
just like you (among other things). As of the beginning of January 1997, the
Beta testing period of The Realm has expired, and so you must pay if you
wish to play The Realm. I had a problem when trying to run the program initially. To get it to work, I had to download some update files (from Stephen's FTP server) and update the game manually. I downloaded about 20 update files and updated the game myself. After that, I could finally login to the Realm Server, which then proceeded to update the rest of the game (which takes a very long time at 28.8kbps). |
| SubSpace Headquarters | Choose a ship to fly around in and use it to shoot down other ships. Collect power ups to improve your ship, and join others to form a team. Virgin Interactive's SubSpace is an Internet-only game (which is a good thing, since it really wouldn't be worth playing as a single player game). |