Nth News ======== Volume 3. Nth Degree Productions News Welcome To Nth News. In Nth News, you will find the latest updates on our development efforts, news, hints and assorted tidbits. If ever we have to update our library (ie: most or all of the products), grab the latest Nth News to see quickly what has changed in the products to determine whether you should download them. This can save you some time, and perhaps shorten a long distance call. NthNews can be found on GCOMM.COM in the ISVNTH file library, plus it can be sent out automatically (details below). A note from the boss: We've been quiet for about a month now, this was due to a hectic schedule. We've been planning out the next 12 months and it'll be chaotic. I guess we thrive in it. I'm sure that we're not the only ones trying to outguess the world, you have to as well. With such things as AOL flat fees, more ways to connect to the net, online shopping, Browser wars and of course WG3, our lives are not any simpler. As ISV's, our jobs are to provide the tools and products that will keep WG systems one step ahead of other platforms. The WG platform is the undisputed cadillac of the BBS world, and it's the ISV's responsibility to provide the materials the you will need to keep it that way. Frankly, if your system thrives, so do we. We've thought about several things, and have tried to coordinate our efforts with yours. In the last section of NthNews, we have tried to address questions that people often ask, please give them a glance. We have also tried to tailor our upcoming development efforts in such a manner that you will have the tools and products to compete in this shifting marketplace. We've been listening to the system owners and operators, and have done what we can, where we can. Such things as ditching the DMA count for order & chaos will hopefully reduce some of the pressures that you must contend with. Remember, we're listening so tell us what you need. Andy Purchasing can be done through... ================================= Crystal Quill: BBS Direct Line: 703-241-7117 Telnet : CQ.CQI.COM (205.252.44.33) Phone : 703-241-7101 (voice) Address: PO Box 7411 Arlington, Va. 22207 High Velocity Software: BBS Direct Line: 602-200-9756 Telnet : SUPPORT.HVS.COM (165.247.49.98) Phone : (800)-572-5582 (NOTE: SALES ONLY) Address: PO Box 33455 Pheonix, Az. 85067-3455 Other notable email addresses: NthSales@CQ.CQI.COM - Sales/Purchasing info. NthSupport@CQ.CQI.COM - Product Support issues. Order And Chaos =============== Wahoo! It's finally done! Yeah, we're late, but hey it's part of the biz. Actually, we sat here for 2 weeks waiting for a bug. We didn't want to ship a buggy product, and well, as far as we know we didn't. Oh yeah, that DMA count thing? When it comes to a system, it would be a pain in the rear, so it's history, gone, toast, removed. We saw it in action with a piece of software and it absolutely sucked. After watching DMA licensing in action, we wish it on no one! If you purchase Order and find a bug that we can reproduce, you get 5 Bug Bucks, they are good towards any purchase, anytime. Details on Bug Bucks below. And there's no expiry date on them either. We want to congratulate the following systems: 1st Place Winner: webyte.com The folks at webyte absolutely ROCKED! These guys did some serious testing, very professional, very accurate. We'll send them betas from now on! They get the free copy of Order and deserve it totally! Other notable mentions Nucleus.com. Camel BBS (Malaysia). Nexus BBS. The list of Credits will be at CQ & HVS in a day or two as we tally them up. You can put those bug-bucks to use folks, you all deserve a hand. Once you see the final ZIP (it's there now even as we type), download it, and your ready, just call in and let-em know you've got some bug bucks! And to the folks at webyte.com, I'll be emailing your activation code to you! Other Cool Stuff ================ T-Warped Front - The Battle Rages.... ------------------------------------- T-Warped 2.5 is in testing! It'll be on your plate soon. This thing ROCKS! It has TONS of hidden features like pissed off ferrenghi paging your players telling them off, a few ferrballs are in the mood to pass along the secrets of the scorpion too though. New features include: -Terran Overdose : Make your terra have the population of earth. -BoneSmasher : It's pissed, it read your posts, and decided to exceed the load limit! Take it if you dare, haha. -Wanderer : It scales goodies according to game age. -Port Juicer : not a juice bar. -The Specialists : gee, wonder who these guys are. ...and a few other goodies.... Naughty Bits ------------ Damn we're having fun with this! We keep coming up with stuff for this one. Tonight we added "magic" potions, ie: Tequila & vodka (fighting drinks!), down a pint, and well, you'll lose your vowels onscreen but you'll scrap the "prudes" real good! We're planning on a live beta soon! The DragonScales ---------------- This is a serious piece of digi-art! This'll be on your doorstep real soon, and we recommend you check this one out. An Ansii only monstrosity with 2.8 million locations. The Addon maps for this will be free, forever, always. The editor kicks butt too. When you see this you'll say to yourself "wow, how did they think of that!". Well we wanted to play it too, and since it wasn't to be found... we made it (and have been having fun with it too). Time Bank -------- A timely product for turbulent times. Yeah, we know what going on out there, and we're trying to make tools for this weird world. Don't bother trying to mix credits and days and weeks and months and hours and nanoseconds and microcredits and subparticles and flippity-flop revertable account classes. Just give them the time bank. Questions And Answers --------------------- To all the curious folk out there, here's the 3.x scoop from nth. Q) Will you be porting to WG 3? A) Yes, we will. Q) When? A) During Summer 97. Q) Why don't you just recompile it and fire it out, I'm sure you guys get WG free? A) No, we get no free rides from GComm. There is no SDK sent out to us, no software or any other assistance. These upgrades are totally out of our pocket. Besides the purchases you make for the upgrade, we have to include the developers kit, compilers, NT, testing machines etc... Q) Does that mean you'll raise prices? A) Nope. Q) Will you ditch BBSV6, WG1 and WG2? A) No, we have no intentions of that. All our future development is planned to support these platforms. Q) What about other multitasking systems? A) We are looking into supporting other platforms, nothing has been decided yet. Q) Why is naughty bits taking so long? A) We don't want it to be a game that gets boring in 2 hours. The design is constantly being adjusted so it won't become dry after a person plays with it for a few hours. We want it to have as high a return rate as possible. Q) Will T-Warped be upgraded to WG3? A) It will be first in line. Q) Will you upgrade everything? A) Yes, absolutely. It would be a crappy thing to do to anyone who has purchased software otherwise. Q) Since the new version of TWarped is a major upgrade, will I have to cough up money even though I already have TWarped? A) Absolutely not! No way! Never, ever, ever! Q) What the heck is this bug buck thing? A) If you have any Nth Products that are registered, you may find bugs, we won't deny that bugs can occur. But if you find one, tell us, and once we reproduce it, you will be creditted 5 "bug bucks", good toward any Nth purchase (legal mumbo jumbo: Good only on products you have purchased, not transferable for cash, goat cheese or 2400 baud modems, only good for future purchases). ========================================================================= NTHNEWS - NthNews Server Info: If you'ld like NthNews sent to you, or know someone who would like to get it. To Receive NthNews: Send an email to NTHSALES@CQ.CQI.COM with no title, add the following to the body of the email, JOIN NTHNEWS To Stop Receiving NthNews: Send an email to NTHSALES@CQ.CQI.COM with no title, add the following to the body of the email, STOP NTHNEWS =======================================================================