[3329] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
GAME: Entrepreneur demo available!
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Brad Wardell)
Sat Aug 30 11:28:10 1997
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: 28 Aug 1997 14:04:00 -0400
From: wardell@ibm.net (Brad Wardell)
Reply-To: wardell@ibm.net (Brad Wardell)
Reply-to: wardell@ibm.net (Brad Wardell)
[Followups directed to comp.os.os2.games]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, August 25, 1997
Contact: Alexander Antoniades (313) 762-0687 x228
Stardock Releases Entrepreneur Demo
Windows 95/NT & OS/2 users get first glimpse of the most ruthless strategy
game ever!
Livonia MI Stardock Systems is announcing the release of the demo version of
their new real-time PC strategy game, Entrepreneur. This exciting new game
brings the world of business and war games together with a new real-time,
multi-player Internet game that encourages to play a take no prisoners
approach to conquer the corporate market.
The demo is available at http://www.stardock.com.
The final version of Entrepreneur will be available in October, 1997 from
quality retail outlets everywhere.
GAME BACKGROUND
Entrepreneur is a real-time multiplayer strategy game set in the real world of
business. It is not a business simulator. Nor is it a shoot-em-up game. In
essence, the idea behind Entrepreneur is that every day, corporate CEOs as
Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Fox, TBS, etc. are all waging all out war on each
other. But why should only the CEOs at billion dollar companies get to play
this game? Now everyone can try to crush their enemies!
In Entrepreneur, you start a company and choose a market to conquer. The game
will ship with the computer market and other markets will become available
after release via Stardock or third parties through what we call "Dynamic
Industry Modules" (DIMs). Once you are in, you must order your sales
executives (who act as generals who get your products onto the shelves) to
different parts of the world where they compete with the sales executives of
other companies for the market leadership of the region they are positioned in
and the surrounding regions.
Each region has different desires and through research and development, you
must try to engineer your products to meet their demands. However, different
parts of the world have very different demands. For example, you may dominate
North America through your leadership in reliability but the buyers in Europe
may demand performance and thus you may be a minor player there to companies
who are ahead of you in that area.
To offset this, you can create marketing campaigns which act as commando
units. They increase the perceived value of a target trait in the regions
that are positioned in. So even though you may be behind in a given trait,
throw enough marketing resources at it and you can make the public perceive
you as having the better product. And there's no shortage of marketing
campaigns to choose from: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) all the way up to
full scale TV campaigns.
On top of all this, certain regions have special resources. If you are the
market leader, you have control over that resource. The resources range from
political to scientific. If you have enough of these resources, you can use
one of the "Direct Action Cards" that you receive at the beginning of each
game year. Direct Action Cards are the great equalizer of Entrepreneur and
their powers can vary between insignificant to clinching the game. Have
enough political resources? Then you can use your clout with the government to
shut out a competitor from a target region. Hold enough labor resources? Lure
away an enemy sales executive or incite a labor strike at a target region.
There's many dozens of cards in Entrepreneur to choose from and they really do
stir things up.
The game is won when you have achieved a basic monopoly share of the market
(you don't necessarily drive your opponents out of business but keep them
around for anti-trust purposes -- like say giving them $200 million to keep
them afloat...).
SDS/AI:
While many games that have multiplayer support have poor AI, Stardock takes
its computer players seriously. The AI in Entrepreneur was developed by the
same team that created the AI for Galactic Civilizations (the 1995 game of the
year from the Internet Top 100). Each computer player has a unique
personality (i.e. not just some different variable settings, they are actually
coded differently) so that one computer player that makes a mistake may not be
found in a different one. And while the demo version AI is toned down some, it
is still extremely challenging.
STARDOCK.NET:
Multiplayer play is pretty much expected today and Entrepreneur may have the
best performing internet performance of any game currently available. You can
play people from around the world and Entrepreneur can handle latency times as
great as 5 seconds or more without missing a beat (most games can't handle
more than .5 seconds). With STARDOCK.NET, you can visit other players in a
chat forum right from within the game and join their games easily -- no
searching around for someone to play.
Another unique feature to STARDOCK.NET is its hall of fame. The top 100
scores are kept track of on it so you can get an idea of who is the best at
it. Imagine Quakeworld or Battle.net where you can keep track of number of
"frags" and thus be recognized for your...business savvy.
While some people may be turned off by the game being set in the "business
world", rest assured, the game setting detracts nothing from the gameplay
itself. The unique game mechanics of Entrepreneur really show off what a
strategy game designed from scratch to be real-time can be like.
User Testimonials
"Entrepreneur is so revolutionary that I believe it will join the ranks of the
all time classics. It will take its place alongside such legendary games as
Maxis's Simcity series."
-Oliver Franklin (channels@frankson.aus.net)
"Entrepreneur combines the best elements of MULE, Magic the Gathering, and
Risk into a single game!"
-Stephen Brisk (sbrisk1@vsot.uicd.edu)
"Plays a lot like Capitalism Plus but with Masters of Orion game play! It's
awesome!"
-Pierre Rhit (pr1083@rs-nom.com)
Entrepreneur will be released in October of 1997 at a suggested retail price
of $49.95. The demo is currently available at http://www.stardock.com.
Stardock can be reached by voice at either at (313) 762-0687 or toll-free
1-888-STARDOCK), via fax at (313) 762-0690, E-mail at info@stardock.com, and
the
World Wide Web at http://www.stardock.com.
###
Entrepreneur
Platforms: Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 or OS/2 4.0.
List Price: $49.95
Available: October 1997
Part No. E1295ET
UPC code: 7-08192-01024-0
Developed and published by Stardock Systems
Trademark Notices:
Entrepreneur is a registered trademark of Stardock Systems, Inc. All other
trademarks are held by their respective owners.
_____________________________________________________________________
| NOTE: Please send submissions by EMAIL os2_ann_req@bix.com
| Correspondence to the COOA Moderator: lfirrantello@bix.com .
| Please see: http://www.bix.com/pub/os2ann/pindex.htm for posting guidelines
