We're going to be releasing the Entrepreneur later this quarter (in June)
and to give users time to join up I'm letting everyone know that anyone
can join the Entrepreneur beta.

Last year our company, Stardock, developed Galactic Civilizations that some
of you may have heard of. With what we have learned on that game, we have
sought to develop an even more ambitious game. A REAL TIME Strategy game.

The way we handle betas (like with GalCiv) is that it's treated like an
early experience program. You get the game at a somewhat discounted rate
and in return you get the beta and the final version and can have a great
deal of input on what the game is like.

I also mention Avarice which is what we're internally calling our "Myst
Killer" game for OS/2. If you liked Myst, you'll probably like Avarice.

Here's the info for you to digest. Please feel free to repost it anywhere
you think it is appropriate. As any GalCiv player will tell you, the large
beta support we had is what made GalCiv a success and we want to make
Entrepreneur even more of a true OS/2 game.

While developing GalCiv, an idea for a game kept coming to mind. I used to
be a big fan of 'business simulation' games. Popular games of this genre
include MULE and Railroad Tycoon (though I haven't actually seen this
one). The problem was, the game I wanted to write which I called Corporate
Machine, was well beyond the know-how of our team back in 1993. It was
just too advanced for us to feasibly do because we were still fairly knew
to OS/2 programming and we did not have the infrastructure then for
getting graphics designers for the graphics (hence, GalCiv's graphics
aren't incredible, I drew the ship icons myself for example). As GalCiv
neared completion, we have developed a network of artists and technical
know-how where Entrepreneur could become a reality.

I also wanted to show how similar modern business practices are to warfare.
Make no mistake, Entrepreneur is a war game. There are no guns, no
killing, no bombs but it is a game of conquest. Your company is out to
dominate the market you are in. It should give users a new perspective on
how companies really work. We all flame Microsoft for their business
practices but it will be interesting how much differently we players of
Entrepreneur do when the same situations come up. To survive, you must be
a competitive player. What you are willing to do in Entrepreneur to be
competitive is your choice and perhaps it will be in those choices that
you learn how you are different from large domineering corporations that
exist in reality.

If I were to describe what I want Entrepreneur to be like, I would say:

Entrepreneur is a real-time multi-player strategy/simulation game where you
are out to conquer the world.

That's the trick now isn't it? REAL-TIME STRATEGY in the same sentence. To
be sure, there are other real-time games out there. Simcity and Populace
come to mind but one is a simulation and the other's 'strategy' components
are relatively simple (though fun). This kind of setup should appeal to
those who (like me) enjoyed the game Xcom (UFO: enemy unknown). You have
some control over how fast time passes (except in multi-human-player mode
of course) but there is no 'turn' button.

In Entrepreneur, you choose a market to be involved in. The game will come
bundled with 3 markets to choose from. Other markets will be made
available after release by either us or by third parties via developer
kits. For example, let's say you choose to be in the computer industry.
Computers are made up of several components such as monitors, keyboards,
hard disks, video cards, CPU's etc. Each of those components are made up
of separate components and so on. But to keep the game from getting overly
complicated, you simply research a pre-defined set of components such as
hard drives, CPU's, etc. Each component will add a different trait to the
product. There are about a dozen qualities each component adds. From
durability to cost to asthetics. For example, you may have a choice of a
half dozen new types of hard disks you may want to research into. Some
cost more but don't last as long. Other's are kind of 'sporty' looking
which helps in reviews to a point. It is up to you choose what you think
it best for the future product you want to make.

Once you have researched a set of components, you then design products from
the list of components you have. You may have a very powerful computer
system that costs a lot or an economy model. You can have several
different products in your 'product line'. At this point, the only game I
can even think to compare this game to (as you can tell, I use other games
as analogies a lot) would be Masters of Orion which is quite a different
game. In MOO, you research technologies, build ships with them and then
wipe out enemy fleets with them. In ENT, you research components, build
inventions (products) with those components and conquer the market with
them (city by city).

But it's not quite that easy. Researching techs and putting them together
is too easy. Once you design the product the engineering process begins.
Depending on the complexity of the components, the time to take your
design and make it a reality begins. Luckily, in ENT, everything takes
little time for gameplay reasons but the relative time between products
can mean the difference between getting a product out the door in time and
ending up with a has-been product.

Once this is done, you then send it to manufacturing and the product gets
built. You have to decide how many units to make and where to send them.
Each city has different tastes in products. You will have to be careful
where you send your products. If you send a bunch of your fanciest and
most expensive cars to a town that considers eating a luxury, you are
likely to get mowed down by your opponents who have arrived with a fleet
of economy-cars.

Like most strategy games, there are alliances and wars that break out. This
is similar to the real world where you have companies that periodically
make alliances (like IBM and Microsoft) and companies that go to war with
each other (like IBM and Microsoft).

You win the game either by absorbing all your competitors, conquering all
the markets of the world, or driving your competitors out of business.

I am very excited about this game. Those of you who know me know that I
write games for my own enjoyment and hope that others like it too. I wrote
GalCiv after getting tired of waiting for someone to write a "Better Civ
than Civ". Well, no one is going to write ENT because its real-time
strategy engine requires a multithreaded OS and right now, it looks like
we're the only ones making games designed for such OS's.

The possibilities for this game are staggering. We could have modules where
you are really in a war game, you design armies and the components are
armor, artillary, infantry, etc. Or another market module where you are
creating sentient life and trying to beat out the other would be creators
of life. Best yet, since the developer's kit will be out shortly after
release, other people will be able to make modules that I would never have
thought of.

THE BETA:

In May we hope to release ENT beta 1 (though we may wait until June to
closer time it with Avarice beta 1). The beta program for ENT will be
similar to GalCiv's beta. Anyone can join the pre-release program for $35
plus shipping. Joining the program allows you to get pre-release versions
so that you have a definite input into the game (anyone in the GalCiv
program can attest to this). You also, of course, get the final version
free.

We need lots of help in the game and OS/2 support for solid products has
always been strong. Anyone who knows how to write good music or is
interested in artwork please email me (your efforts will be compensated of
course). Moreover, we need lots of cities to put in our world. We're going
to try to put in beta testers' home towns into the game.

Beta testers will get to have input into:

 o The game itself
 o The manual
 o The packaging

It is our intent to make this game truly by OS/2 users for OS/2 users. I
want to work as closely with other OS/2 users to make this a world class
game!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BETA FORM
-----------------------------------------------------------------

ENTREPRENEUR REQUIRES OS/2 WARP
8 megs ram
3.5 inch floppy drive
CD ROM drive if final version is on CD ROM.
VGA or better.

Name ____________________________________________

Address ________________________________________

City/Zip/Country _______________________________

Payment Type
[ ] VISA
[ ] Mastercard
[ ] Check

If Credit Card, # and expiration _____________________  ____

Name of your home town(optional) _____________________________

Your home town's location in
latitude and longitude (optional) _____________________________

Pick one
[ ] ENT beta program (includes final version free)
    $35 plus $10 shipping ($20 if outside USA/Canada)
[ ] ENT pre-order (final version only)
    $40 plus $5 shipping ($15 if outside USA/Canada)

[ ] ENT AND Avarice* beta programs (includes both betas and final GA)
    $60 plus $20 shipping ($40 if outside USA/Canada)

I want the GA version on: [ ]CDROM  [ ]3.5" floppies
(beta will be on 3.5" floppies)

Make Checks payable to:
Stardock Systems Inc.
13405 Addison
Gibraltr MI 48173

Stardock: PHONE (313)/782-2248 USA
          FAX   (313)/207-0780 USA
          CompuServe: GO STARDOCK
          OS2BBS: Stardock forum
          Email: Wardell@ibm.net

* Avarice requires at least a 2speed CD ROM to play.
Target Release dates for both products are September 1995.

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