Revisionist History

O.R.B. version 1.04 offers an attractive set of enhancements along with a few fixes that improve overall gameplay. At the top of the bill is a spiffy 3D tactical screen, which replaces the crummy old 2D one. Four new playable units (two frigates for each race) have arrived on the scene, along with one new alien carrier each for the Kyulek and Elathan. Eight skirmish and multiplayer scenarios, a few weapons, and some fresh sound effects round out the slate of additions. The capital-ship limit is up to 20, and the build screen now has a Pause function.

On the maintenance side of things, multiplayer stability is significantly improved, with code enhancements implemented to make O.R.B. run more smoothly. The loading time is (thankfully) better, but whether or not it reaches the ��200 percent faster�� claims of Strategy First is up for debate. That��s not really something you can quantify across all computers. The company is also touting better A.I. and improved explosions. On the first count, the A.I. does seem a little better, or maybe it��s just cheating better. Good A.I. is like Justice Stewart��s famous definition of pornography����I know it when I see it����but O.R.B.��s A.I. pulls the plow. On the second count, why yes, explosions do look a bit more explosiony.

If you toddle on over to the official site (www.o-r-b.com), you��ll also find the second package of three new maps by the Phoenix, along with a 1.04 upgrade to his first map pack.

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Vietcong version 1.01 claims a ��significantly�� improved framerate. ��Significantly�� is another one of the unquantifiable words in PC gaming, since everyone has a different notion of what ��significant improvement�� is. Vietcong could really use an improvement that a reasonable person might call ��significant�� or even ��adequate.�� I��d call v.1.01 a ��marginal�� improvement. The Pterodon engine still kicks few asses and takes down no names whatsoever.

While framerate was by far the most serious problem dogging Vietcong, there are a few other fixes in the patch: no more respawning inside another player during multiplayer, a functional team autokick option, and supposedly better cheat protection, though I couldn��t verify this last improvement.

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.