[734] in comp.os.os2.announce archive

home help back first fref pref prev next nref lref last post

BETA, GAME: Rhintek BEM Internet Game (update)

daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Rhintek)
Wed Feb 28 16:17:45 1996

To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: 28 Feb 1996 20:08:29 GMT
From: heeth@rhintek.com (Rhintek)
Reply-To: heeth@rhintek.com

Reply-To:     heeth@rhintek.com
Submitted by: PR
Source:       Rhintek
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BETA TESTERS NEEDED FOR BUG-EYED MONSTERS FROM OUTER SPACE

February 19, 1996--Columbia, MD--The year is 2153. Mankind's peaceful
exploration of space has brought Earth into contact with an evil alien empire
from another galaxy. Horrible bug-eyed aliens are coming to abduct  physically
attractive civilians. Strap on your atomic blaster!  Power-up your Acme
communicator!  Join the Space Marines and combat this terror from beyond.

Rhintek announces that it is looking for beta testers for a new
Internet-aware, multi-player game. Computer game developer, Grinning Lizard,
will use  Rhintek's extremely powerful OS/2 communications engine, RhinoCom,
to create "Bug-Eyed Monsters from Outer Space (BEM)." BEM is a high-action,
multi-player OS/2 strategy game reminiscent of 1950's science fiction movies
and comics played directly over phone lines or through TCP/IP on networks or
the Internet.

"So many games are taking the difficult route and trying to develop their own
communication interface," stated Lee Thomason, President of Grinning Lizard.
"RhinoCom takes care of the connection details so we are able to  concentrate
on making the game enjoyable, complete with an AI that doesn't cheat, NPCs
that evolve through use of genetic algorithms, high-intensity graphics, and
mind-melting sounds."

In order to provide Internet capabilities for BEM, Rhintek has added Telnet,
both client and server, to the RhinoCom engine. As these features are not yet
released, the RhinoCom version available with the BEM alpha will be a  beta of
the new version of RhinoCom Home. The public BEM release will include a
stripped-down RhinoCom engine, code-named Yak, as part of its package.

"Yak is designed to be an OEM communications back-end targeted at vendors who
wish to easily add connectivity to their own products," added Rainer McCown,
President of Rhintek, Inc. "This way, vendors treat our package as an
input/output source and let us worry about making the connection, handling
phone lines and modems, and dealing with network versus asynchronous packeting
structures."

The alpha BEM product will be widely available beginning March 1 with the
first beta release appearing late April. Participation in the beta program is
limited, costs $50, and includes a copy of the final game (MSRP $69).

Contact:
Rhintek at their web page at http://www.rhintek.com/rhintek, via email at
heeth@rhintek.com, or via Rhintek's BBS (running RhinoCom Standard Host  Mode)
at (301) 596-5618. For a complete RhinoCom press kit, contact Mariya Pearl at
847/253-6600.
=====================================================================
-- email os2_ann_req@bix.com to submit articles to comp.os.os2.announce
-- email lfirrantello@bix.com for comments to the moderator.

-- Please use "Reply-To:" or "Source:" addresses for email comments
   regarding this article.

home help back first fref pref prev next nref lref last post