Rampant Games - Running Rampant

Running Rampant! Issue #2
October 5, 2004

Greetings, Rampant Gamers!

Lots of interesting things going on and we're not halfway through October! We've got hints, tips, secrets on Void War, and a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT (two within two weeks of each other!)

News for this issue:

* Outpost Kaloki Goes on sale!
* Void War Update
* Hints and Tips
* Rampant Games in the News
* Team Member Spotlight

Outpost Kaloki Now Available
Outpost Kaloki is a great new game now being sold by Rampant Games. If you remember, WAY back when (issue #1 of the newsletter), we told you about the "joint test fest" we had testing Outpost Kaloki and Void War. ( http://www.voidwar.com/testfest.html ).

The game has only gotten better. It's a delightful "Tycoon" style game where you must manage several space stations across an amusing storyline involving wacky aliens and a kidnapped princess. Each scenario brings different challenges, and there are several scenarios that are not part of the main campaign that you can try out. You will be building space lemonade stands, observatories, pawn shops, solar windmills, and everything else a space station should have!

Oh, and the music totally kicks butt, too. Something TOTALLY different.

It's VERY different from Void War, but I HIGHLY recommend giving it a try. The demo is free, after all! You can download by visiting the Rampant Games site and clicking on the Outpost Kaloki link, or on the Downloads link.

http://www.rampantgames.com/outpost.html

Give it a try! Tell your friends and neighbors and the friends on your chat list!

Void War Update
We've received LOTS of compliments on Void War, but also a lot of requests for new features (and, painfully, a few bugs we've had to fix). There should be a new version of Void War coming your way within a few days. What do you need to do to get it? Very little... if you've left the Auto Update function turned on, the Void War launcher will tell you when the download is available and give you the option to download it and install it. Very easy. We'll have additional instructions if you just want to download and install the patch manually.

We're also going to (very soon) be putting up the music patch for registered Void War owners only. These are very high quality sound files in OGG format. Download them for the game, or just to listen to.

We love your comments and suggestions... please keep visiting us on the forums and letting us know what you think about Void War, and how we can improve it!

Hints and Tips
* Void War: If you are running a multiplayer game over the Internet and people are having a tough time joining your game, you may need to check your router / firewall settings and make sure you have port forwarding turned on. If you play many games over the Internet, you are no doubt used to this by now. If you are still having problems, try using a different port.

* Void War: We're still having problems on SOME machines with dual monitors. Some work, some don't. If you are having problems running on a dual-monitor machine, try disabling one of the monitors.

* Void War - Fighting the bosses: There's a trick to beating most of the bosses. You may have to vary your style of play a little to beat them. Some ships are better against some bosses than others. The neat thing is that if you save your game (you get the option to save or resume after you die... so you don't even have to save in advance), you can pick up where you left off in a different ship.

* Void War - Evil trick department: Against human players: if you are flying the Nighthawk and grab a stealth pick up, engage hyperspace. Since you are now off their radar and probably outside their field of vision, they'll have a really tough time figuring out where you are... until you are pounding them with your guns!

* Void War - Another evil trick in the Nighthawk: Hyperspace out right after you grab the pick-up. Just before you crash into something behind it. This is especially handy when someone else is following close behind (and too close to stop)!

* Void War - Tempest: When you have engaged the Tempest Shielding (yes, some people in the computer security industry will laugh at that), don't just sit around waiting for the shield to shut down (as the AI players do...). Use your spare seconds to grab pick-ups, dodge behind cover, or (my favorite) RAM the other player!!!!

* Outpost Kaloki: Right before your timer runs out, sell everything you don't need in order to meet your objective for the mission. After all, you are done... who cares if the space station is STILL profitable after you are gone?

* Outpost Kaloki: You can fiddle with various settings on each module you build for your space station. This will change its attractiveness to customers, its power / safety ratio, it's profitability, and / or its maintenance cost. Tweak these settings to get the best bang for the buck!

Rampant Games in the News
* There's a great article on Rampant Games and Void War to be found on Gamers Hell entitled, "Filling a Void". Check it out at:
http://www.gamershell.com/reviews_PCFillingaVoidIntervieww.shtml

Team Member Spotlight
Who makes up the mysterious team of superheroes at Rampant Games? We are sure you've been wondering this for at least a second or two, so we'll now unmask...

Name:George McEwan
AKA: NeuronScream, BulletBoy
Role: Modeler
Superpowers: Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap). Sniping (not camping, SNIPING!). Shooting the gunner and commander of a tank in Operation Flashpoint so fast that the driver panics and runs. L337 helicopter skillz.
Favorite Games: Battlefield 1942, Operation: Flashpoint, Total Annihilation
Favorite Void War Ship: The Claw (boss ship)
Preferred Void War Weapon: Leech Missile (according to his victims)