What's New
by Jason Whong
Happy Third Anniversary
July marks the beginning of Year Number 4 for The Ambrosia Times. Beginning in 1994 as a bimonthly newsletter being shipped as a DocMaker format, it quickly became a source of information and entertainment for Mac news hounds and game fans all around. 2 years ago, we took the Times to the Internet, and the world has never been the same.
There's plenty of news in this issue. We've got a couple of products in beta, a few more in alpha, and screenshots 'til tomorrow.
Harry kicks!
Harry negotiates an obstacle course of hazardous office supplies and dart-hurling middle managers.
Harry the Handsome Executive is just entering beta. Are you brave enough to guide the swivel chair through bureaucratic mess and corruption? With more anti-corporate satire and wit than you can shake a stick at, this is definitely a game that's as fun to watch as it is to play. Audiophiles will enjoy the custom musical instrument set that makes Harry's background track rock right along. It runs exceptionally well on a 68040, too. For a detailed look, check out the sneak peek later on in this issue.
Eclipse 3.1.0
Our popular screen saver now helps save your system. Version 3.1.0 (also going into beta) takes advantage of the Energy Saver capabilities of the MacOS and many popular monitors. Its security features have been improved, offering password protection as part of the startup process. Also, Matt managed to stomp on some bugs from the earlier release. Check out Eeeek A Bug! for the scoop on all of the changes, bug fixes, and current issues we're tracking.
Save the screen, and sleep the machine.
Cythera (our first scenario for the Delver RPG engine)is moving along as well. Glenn's latest alpha release even works smoothly on the Quadra 605 sitting on my desk. Glenn says that he needs to implement more characters and add new artwork before he's ready for beta. Before you start playing this game, it may be good to take a week or so off from your job, your school, or any other real-life situation that might get in your way.
Personally, I should add that Cythera is the first Mac RPG that made me skip meals and forget to go home. If only there were a shower at the Ambrosia offices!
Manse just gained some new features in the latest alpha, thanks to the new Ambrosia Sound_Tool. Development is progressing nicely. Currently, we are adding the artwork and giving Manse many more "critters." And critters ain't easy! This isn't your father's shooting game. A word of advice: buy headphones or stereo speakers if you
hope to survive.
The results are in!
The Bubble Trouble High Score contest is over. Over 300 players tested their skill and entered
the contest, but only one came out on top. The 50 highest scorers will get limited edition Bubble
Trouble T-shirts! Check out the results later on in the issue. Think you're in the top 50? Turn
to the page to find out...
Something amiss at America Online?
We closed our AOL forum a few months ago due to increased costs. In its absence, some of our AOL-residing customers have been trying to access alt.games.ambrosiasw and alt.games.mac.escape-velocity, two Ambrosia-related USENET newsgroups. However, the AOL news reader says these groups are invalid. We
are investigating this problem and should have a solution (or at least an excuse) by the next issue. We realize that groups in the alt.* hierarchy don't propagate well, but AOL serves over 8 million people, and we think it should have a complete news feed.
In the meantime, if you're using AOL and want to find out what's going on in these Ambrosia-related newsgroups, you might want to check out the list of internet service providers (at http://www.thelist.com). Chances are, there's a full-fledged internet service provider in your area which carries these groups. You can also use programs like NewsWatcher with AOL 3.0 to link up to another news server. We hope to see you there!
Tough choice for Tom...
Terrible Tom Langworthy, wielder of the fists of death from Ambrosia's own Dynamic Duo, somehow managed to graduate from Webster High School. Some of you may have noticed his excellent responses to your technical questions during the week that Cajun was on vacation. Now that he's finished with the state-mandated portions of his education, he must decide between fighting crime and going to the College of Wooster, where he might major in Computer Science next fall. Send him a note (at hflang@frontiernet.net) to congratulate him. Also, check out his article about summer fun in Rochester later on in this issue.
I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.
You may have noticed a different name in the byline this issue. I'm Jason Whong, Ambrosia's new Marketing guy. If you really want to know my innermost thoughts, there will be an interview with me in the next issue of the 'Times. But until then, watch for me on discussion_list, comp.sys.mac.games.*, #Macintosh and pretty much any other online forum. Feel free to drop me a line (at jason@AmbrosiaSW.com)to say hello, to make inquiries, or to say that you're a famous person reading this.
