Software

I've always like how games take computer technology to it's limits. Most of the games reviewed here were purchased because they push the envelope in new directions. I'm particularly interested in games that use 3D accelerator boards.

Games I've purchased but not reviewed: Hoyle Casino, Return to Castle Wolfenstien, Midtown Madness II, Giants. And a ton of others I can't remember.

Still has frame rate problems. Yet another FS package from Microsoft. At least the graphics were significantly improved on this version. To bad you need 2 GHZ of computing power to get good frame rates.

Frame rate problems (again). This package has not been fully tested, but so far I can say that you will need at least a PIII 500 class machine or better to really enjoy it. I'm playing on a PIII 567 and the package feels like FS98 did back on my AMD K6 200. That is a shame. It also insists on having the CD in the drive upon start, another "treat" that somehow cheapens the entire package.

The Lear 45 panel looks like very little work went into it. The Lear 45 is now unflyable, even with joystick sensivities set to a min. What a shame!

I've come to realize the best thing about FS2000 is the addon called 767 PIC. Oh, and I'm now playing this on a PIII 933 MHZ, and it could still use more power.

Finally something to unseat FS98! This package has really impressed me. First, lets cover the downfalls: extremely demanding system requirements (in fact, the system this package needs may not be available until the year 2000), poor stall model (actually almost no stall model at all), no multiplayer (which is fine with me), to few challenges (nine, and four are variation on the same thing), small manual short on detailed information (I am in the process of rounding up my own and posting it under the Beechjet link in the left margin), make believe airline names on the planes, easy flight model, and no map provided in the box (despite the fact that they only needed to provide one: the Seattle Area). Other than that, this is the sim to own for hardcore sim fliers.

Because the manual leaves much to be desired when trying to determine what a logical flow of events would be when trying to fly the BeechJet, I've assembled a checklist and walkthrough that is a must for anyone trying to master this game.

A game I've waited years for is finally here. A blast to play, Descent3 has more eye candy than most games, and the sounds and music are excellent. This is a great multimedia game for thos with a system that can handle it. I suggest a PII or better that runs at least 400 MHZ for decent frame rates. On a sad note, the control of the ship has never been "right". I can't control the ship as well as I could the older versions of Descent.

A wild racing game through the streets of Chicago. I downloaded the free trial version before I bought this game, and let the kids try it out. It was a major hit. This game allows you to choose one of about 10 cars to race in downtown Chicago, which is complete with traffic, bridges, pedistarians, traffic lights, planes, and trains. It's great fun to tear about like a maniac, smashing cars and sending people scrambling out of your way.

Everyone who plays the game loves it. My only dissappointment is the fact that the highest resolution supported in 640 x 480, despite running on a 567 PIII / TNT2 Ultra. Although a simple concept, this game is one of the most instantly enjoyable games I've played this year.

A flight simulator that targets the serious flyer. This game looks awesome in 32 bit color. The panels and scenery are better than Microsoft Flight Simulator 98. However, the flight model does not feel as "right" as the FS98 model. The graphics also stutter add odd intervals, in spite of being run on as fast as a machine that exists at the time of this package's release. A full install takes 1.2 GB. Scrolling around the panel becomes a chore, and there is no option for seeing all the instruments at once. The keyboard map for this game is plain stupid, as nothing makes sense. The view system also seems a bit awkward. The sky and clouds look better than any sim, and when run in 32 bit color depth there is absolutely no discernable banding effects on the sky as it smoothly changes from light blue overhead to dark blue near the horizon.

A game seven years late. This game is the package we never thought would finally see the light of day. The most ambitious simulation ever attempted, this package lives up to expectation in most areas, while disappointing many with what appear to be serious flaws and bugs that should have kept the package in development and off of store shelves. It crashes frequently and has radio and wingman communication problems and a demanding campaign engine that leaves the 300 MHZ and below crowd out of luck.

Due to the stiff hardware requirements and "show-stopper" bugs, my advice is to buy this package next year, by which time the bugs will have been patched and the new generation of hardware will be able to run the game at acceptable framerates.

It looks like Microprose either caved into the "give it to us now!" crybabies out there or either made a business decision to throw the product out in time for Christmas in an effort to cash in quickly, perhaps even to keep the project alive. Meanwhile, those fans most loyal to the Falcon legacy are the ones burned the worst. For now, we've got a $60 simulation with far to many lockups and glitches to make it worth the hundreds of megabytes it consumes on the hard disk. I plan to set the game down for 6 months, and then pick it up again. It's going to take AT LEAST this long to fix this many problems. I'm just plain tuckered out from constantly downloading patches for all my 3D games. If I had any sense, I'd always buy last years games. For one, they are cheaper, two they run better on this years hardware, and three, the bugs have been fixed and it's a stable product, and four, reading reviews and year end summaries can weed out the potential of buying any stinkers.

What does work looks good however. It looks like the most complete aircraft simulation produced for the mass market. The graphics look terrific, and the plane handles beautifully in the air. I thought the nose wheel steering on the pavement was a bit erratic, and the throttle control seem a bit flaky- on the joystick it is way to sensitive, and on the keyboard it is unresponsive.

Update. It's July 1999, seven months after the initial release of the product. The most recent patch is still 1.06, although 1.07 was supposed to be released last month. This game still has many problems, and multiplayer only works on a LAN. Even the LAN multiplayer could be flaky. I've wasted countless hours trying to get multiplayer to work with a modem. Nothing works. It's disappointing, but it looks like my original prediction was right- it will take a full year to work out the many bugs in this game. I'm just worried that Microprose will loose their commitment to fixing this game. That would be to bad, because Falcon 4.0 fills a big void in the market, because there are very very few software packages that really attempt to accurately simulate a piece of military hardware. On the positive side, the instant action and tatical engagement modes are stable and work reasonably well, and one could easily argue that these modes, combined with well above average documentation, still make the package a good buy. I simply wish Microprose were more forthcoming on their website as to the current state of the multiplayer modes.

Well the patch finially arrived at the end of July, and it goes quite a ways toward fixing the most glaring of problems, although issues do remain. Most depressing is the fact that the frame rate appears to have taken a 20% hit, if not more. Some are suggesting that this patch "turned on" sections of previously inactive code, and that this added bulk is contributing to overload on low end machines. My analysis of the message boards on the www.falcon4.com web site, seems to indicate that users with AMD chips are the ones hardest hit. I am in this category.

I suggest applying the iBeta realism patches to this package. It's 4 years later and this package is still one of the most advanced simulations I've ever seen for a PC.

Long awaited Valve product makes its debut. This game is being called the Game of 1998 according to most reviews found on the web. In all fairness, that title should probably go to Quake II, which is the game most people were playing throughout 1998, and even early 1999. I've been playing Half-Life a couple of weeks and it is indeed the strongest single player 3D experience provided to date. But despite the hype, it is only an incremental improvement on the 3D genre. What is new about killing space monsters in sci-fi environments?

Nevertheless, this game's strong storyline, solid 3D implementation, and overall completeness make it one of the best games of the year.

The game is based on a combination of code taken from the Quake I and Quake II engines. The OpenGL acceleration on my TNT nVidia board is strong, and I can play the game at 1182 x 876 resolution using 16 bits of color depth. This game has a fast frame rate overall, and seems very solid- something missing from most games these days.

The gameplay is just plain enjoyable because it's possible to walk up on conversations, play an active role in the environment, and enlist the help of others to help you. The game keeps unfolding and it seems like a surprise waits around every corner. You save peoples lives. You helplessly watch friendlies die. You face hideous space-alien monsters that all seem to have their own characteristics and habits. You even face American troops who have orders to eliminate ALL life forms found alive at the base, including yours.

I must stress that Half-Life is a game that is most enjoyable when you have no preconceived notions about what to expect. The surprise in the game are great, and quite abundant. If you are looking for the sort of game we were all hoping Quake II was going to be, go buy a copy of Half-Life. The strong science fiction story that unfolds before you makes it different from all the bland generations of 3D shooters. The bar has been raised, and new shooters will have to at least match this immersion level. Avoid reading reviews that give away the story.

In light of this new standard, it's no wonder that Id Software decided to change course and make Quake III Arena a multiplayer game only. They are still champs in multiplayer area, and decided to milk their advantage in this area instead of simply trying harder to out-do half-life. They must have realized they couldn't pull it off, and copped out of this market rather than look second rate. Work on Team Fortress II, the Half-Life Multiplayer Game, continues and should be released close to the same time as Quake III. It will be interesting to see how these packages bear out. Id software needs to start developing games with a storyline, instead of relying on technological eye-candy to sell the product.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we heard about gameplay changes coming in Quake III Arena, simply because Carmack must certainly realize that a simple Arena game seems far to simple to be enjoyed long term, especially when compared to the ability to play soldiers, medics, tank drivers, etc. in Team Fortress II. TFII allows teams will scores of missions with competing objectives. It looks like TFII could be to Quake III as Half-Life has done to Quake II- i.e. show 'em how it's done.

Based on the MS FS98 Engine. It's finally here. The military version of Microsoft's Flight Simulator is out, and my initial impression of this game is highly favorable. I only have a few hours on this simulator, but I was able to take a P51 Mustang out for a fly, and return for a landing without any trouble. I reconfigured the buttons on my Microsoft Force Feedback Pro, and things really began to shine. The missions are fun, and the graphics up the ante once again for a flight simulators. I spent my first hour in this game simply exploring the gorgeous mountains and lakes. The game requires DirectX 6.0, which it comes with. The game only runs in 640 x 480 with 16 bit color depth on my 4 MB rendition based Diamond Stealth 220, most like due to the extremely detailed ground texture maps. The TNT nVidia however, allows obscene resolutions and color depths, due to it's 16 MB of video RAM. The scenery is the number one improvement in the genre of sims, and frankly sets the new standard for all flight sims. If Falcon 4.0 (if it's ever released at all) doesn't at least match this quality, it's sure to disappoint many.

I was able to formation fly, attack trains, ships, and buildings. The planes look fantastic- I could watch myself fly the P51 mustang all day long. The cockpit looks incredible, and you the option of a 3D cockpit also- and unlike the 3D cockpit in FS98, this time you can see the instruments working.

The planes handle wonderfully. I have always like the MSFS flight model, as I have spent many years flying the older sims. The degree of control exceeds that of any other military sim I've seen. Loops and rolls are easy. I immediately turned realism to 100% and never had any problems controlling the aircraft.

Although the box says the game will run on a Pentium 133 MHZ, I would not recommend it. Consider a 200 MHZ MMX Pentium a reasonable starting point.

Beyond a doubt, this package raises the ante in flight simulation packages. The graphics set a new standard that all others will be measured against. I can play this game in 1280 x 1024 and still get over 20 FPS (Frames Per Second). As you gently rock the plane back and forth, you can actually see the sun's reflections gleaming back along all the different surfaces of the plane.

Unreal. I have mixed emotions about this game. Most notably, the game seems as if it was shipped before it was finished. But that seems to be the trend these days...how much worse can this situation get? I don't like spending an entire weekend downloading all the most recent game patches. It's a bad trend. Even Id software, once known for saying, "It will ship when it's ready" has blown their credibility when they rushed Quake II out the door just in time for Christmas '97, and then spent the next four months releasing constant patches to the game. Heck, Id is still releasing QII patches. They should have kept tweaking Unreal until the game offered 3D accelerator support with OpenGL or Direct3D. Looks like working versions of this are still months away, in spite of the internet hype that would have you believe otherwise.

The good news is that the graphics look good, but in spite of the hype don't seem to be a large leap beyond Quake II. Worse in fact because I can't run an accelerated version of Unreal, and there is no way any software render can produce the results given by rendition accelerated OpenGL. I like the music in Unreal- it really helps draw you into the game.

It is also a little disappointing that 2.5 years after the release of Quake I, there are so many companies producing rip-off titles. Unreal is no different in that respect- it is a first person shooter that is controlled exactly like Quake, with the same general theme of running around, pulling levers, opening doors, killing aliens, etc. How about something original! There is no new ground covered in Unreal. The single biggest difference are the brightly colored outdoor areas found in Unreal that is a refreshing change from the dark hallways found throughout QII.

The version of Unreal that comes out of the box is, well, unreal. My advice is to buy this game one year from now, when they have worked out all the bugs and have offered 3D accelerator support.

Update. It looks as if many of my complaints have disappeared with the purchase of the TNT nVidia board. It runs the beta OpenGL version, and even the alpha Direct 3D version of the game (after installing the 2.18 patch. There is now a 2.19 patch). The OpenGL version only runs in 512 x 384 at this time, which is highly unfortunate. The unreal web site indicates that this will be fixed in the final version.

The Direct 3D support is also a bit shaky, at times the rendering is quite smooth, with fast updates, and then a light or new textures will enter the scene and the frame rates quickly drop down to choppy. Hopefully the final version of the Direct3D driver will address these sporadic slow downs.

It sure seems to be taking a long time to release a accelerated version of Unreal, seeing how the game has been available since spring '98.

When two monsters are in a scene, the frame update rate really drops- on my 266 MHZ Pentium II laptop, the confrontation is always unpleasant because I can't fight monsters with a jerky system spitting out framerates in the single digits. I noticed that on the accelerated version at home, the same thing happens, so it looks like their monster and monster AI code is not highly optimized.

In summary it's a fun game that plays just like Quake II, and offers little that is new. The levels are brighter and less gloomy looking, and the use of fog and scary music really help to draw one into the game.

Update: After playing the game off an on for about a month, I can say that I have been a little more than impressed with some of the Unreal levels. Not only do they look incredible, they are captivating. It makes the entire world surreal and mysterious. The ambient sound effects also help a lot. I also have grown to appreciate how Unreal does not force monsters upon you at every turn. There is a strong exploration element to the game that is missing in many 3D shooters. I do wish that the frame rate was higher- this game is a little ahead of its time. Don't buy this game with anything less than a P2 350 MHZ and a strong Direct 3D accelerator that is known to work with this game.

One year later update: Just got the latest patch for the game, and since building the 567 MHZ Hot Rod, I can say that the game finally runs as it was meant to. The TNT2 Ultra Board with the latest Detenator Drivers slices through this game with ease. Even the Castle Fly-By runs in 1024x768 using Direct 3D without stuttering. The OpenGL driver works well also. The monsters are still to hard, and I looked up the cheat codes on the Internet and I'm finally going to see all the levels. I never got more than 1/3 into the game without the cheat codes, so I'm looking forward to seeing new things. This game, even in late 1999, still looks better than most 3D games released this year. I can now recommend this game for the masses, provided you have a high end system.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 98. This program has sucked up years of my life. I love the challenge of managing the aircraft, and doing things by the book. I've found simple minds don't like this kind of program. I first started flying on my C64 back in 1984. Running on a 1 MHZ 6510 CPU with 64K of RAM, it achieved a frame rate of about 0.5 fps. But how SubLogic managed to cram all that code into 64K of RAM is beyond me. It was the first real-time 3D software out for the 64. I spent countless hours in the air, and reading everything I could about flying. Eventually add-on areas became available, on 5.25 " floppy disks. I had the Hawaii area, Washington DC, and East Coast areas.

When the Amiga 2000 came out in 1988, I bought one through mail order. Before it arrived I had already purchased Sublogic's Flight Simulator for the Amiga. At the time, this version of FS combined with the state of the art graphics produced by the Amiga made it the best version available for any PC. And the flying continued, now faster than before because this version offered a Lear Jet. The Amiga still works, and sometimes I boot it and run the flight simulator demo, and reminds me about the days of 7.14 MHZ Motorola 68000 CPUs.

I got a state of the art P90 system in 1995, with 8 MB of RAM, and Flight Simulator 5.0 for DOS. This version was a great program! It had a snappy feel under dos that Windows never had, until the hardware got faster. Since then I've bought every version since, the latest being FS98, which is a huge product when you consider the entire world has been modeled.

The game allows the player to decide how the scenario will unfold: will you try fair weather flying? Night approach in a Lear Jet with overcast skies and windy conditions?

The Bell helicopter is extremely challenging. Flying slow down Las Vegas strip, reading billboards and taking in the scenery, is a great helicopter experience. And to the East, you can fly around, and explore Hoover Dam. Or, explore the Panama Canal. Fly into Tokyo at Dusk. It's all up to the imagination of the person running the simulation. No other games gives one such complete control of the experience.

My favorite challenge is flying the Lear Jet on a bad weather instrument approach. With full realism. I can pull it off consistently, but it takes a great deal of concentration. The runway is a beautiful sight when you've been managing the aircraft in a stormy approach. If it is done right, you pop out of the clouds, flare, and touch down.

Because the game is extremely demanding, I suggest using a strong 3D accelerator board, preferably one that shines at Direct3D calls. I'm was using the Diamond Stealth II 220, which is based on the Rendition Verite 2100 chipset- and with a AMD-K6 200 MHZ and 64MB RAM, and this package looked and played great. I'm now using a TNT board with 300 MHZ CPU, and it shines all the more. I'm able to run the simulation in 1280 x 1024 x 32, although on my 17" monitor this only looks marginally better than the more reasonable setting of 1024 x 768 x 16.

I also like this game because it is one of the few major game titles I have bought in recent years that has not required any patches to make it work. It was a finished product when it was shipped, something you don't see often anymore.

Summary: My all time favorite package. With an accelerator good at Direct3D calls, this game provides the visual appeal and instant feedback response that I like in a game. There are so many configurable options and available airports that this package could never get old. The force feedback joystick also adds to the enjoyment of this game.

Update Fall 1999: With the TNT2 Ultra board and the 567 MHZ PIII, FS98 runs at over 100 Frames Per Second. It's about as smooth as smooth gets. Microsoft has announced the FS2000 will ship in November 1999, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Quake II is a great game, although I didn't feel that way when I was one of the first to buy it back in late 1997. It was the most unfinished product I've even seen. In fact it was pathetic that Id released what was clearly an early beta. It took months of downloading patches from Id and Rendition to finally get the game stabilized. Now, one year later, the game runs perfectly and the most recent (beta) patch is 3.19. I am also running the latest OpenGL drivers from Rendition.

I mostly play the game in single user mode, but I do have a network at home and when friends come over they bring their PCs and we game until late in the night. In spite of all the hoopla about deathmatch, I find when there are just two people playing, it is more fun to play against the monsters in cooperative mode. The fun of co-op is being entirely overlooked by Id's announcement that Quake III will be a deathmatch only game.

I'm really going to miss single player levels in Quake II- I spend more time playing alone that I do with others, and I think Id is overlooking the fact that many others are playing the game this way also.

And because most people don't have a home network, or an office network they are allowed to install games on, they are stuck with internet type multiplayer, which my experience with has been pretty poor. The game runs very "jumpy" on the internet, even when ping times appear good. Also jumping into a game is usually met with instant death, over and over again as you respawn. That is no fun! Also, the IQ level of many of the people out there playing deathmatch on the internet leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps this is because many of them are kids, but nevertheless the language and hostility are always surprising to me.

I've played the first half of this game over and over, because I keep loosing my save positions every time I install the latest patch. So I've never seen the last half of the game, although I'm looking forward to completing it in multiplayer now that I have a home network set up.

Now that I've got the TNT nVidia 3D board, which has 16 MB video RAM, I'm playing quake at bizarre resolutions. Because I can see little difference (on my 17" monitor, anyway) between 1024 x 768 and 1180 x 1024, I run the game at 1024 x 768 with 16 bits of color depth.

Rendering quality with the nVidia OpenGL ICD is terrific. I've come to think it may even be a small hair better than the Rendition rendering algorithms.

The frame update rate is higher than the 60 HZ the monitor refresh rate, so there is some noticeable sheering of textures when spinning around really fast. I'm going to look into a few docs to see if I can figure out how to limit the frame update rate to the monitor refresh rate for a higher quality experience. Playing Quake II at high resolutions with a strong sound system and frame update rate in the 80s has to be played to be believed. It's one of the most intense gaming experiences to be had. Adding the TNT has allowed me to increase the mouse sensitivities in the game for even quicker reflexes, and because the system is running so fast, you don't loose any accuracy. Precise mouse control is still possible. Combined with autorun set to on, running around Quake levels is a total rush.

It was the game most 3D gamers played throughout 1998. Quake III Arena is slated for a springtime release. It's easy to see why Id dropped the single player mode from the game- they saw what the Half-Life team was putting together. Id just couldn't compete with the likes of this new product which significantly raised the bar for all 3D shooters. Quake III Arena will also have to compete with Sierra's complement to Half-Life, the internet based StormTrooperII.

Pure eye candy. The best looking game to ever hit a monitor. I get a solid 60 FPS (Frames Per Second) when playing this game- the highest refresh rate I've ever seen for a game. This creates a new level of responsiveness that has to be played to be appreciated. I'm probably better at Forsaken than almost any other game and I would have to attribute that to the tight link that appears between the mouse and the screen when frame rates soar past 30 FPS.

The plot- you scounder a "forsaken" and desolate planet earth, or what is left of it after the "science experiment" went wrong and blew off the planet's atmosphere. I think the cinematic intro sequence is also a little on the bloody side, needlessly. You drive a space motorcycle that is gravity free. You can spin, go up, down, left as you float through the air or water. The weapons look fantastic, even better than Quake II. The sound effects are well matched to the weapons, which are quite rewarding to use.

The game is full of colored lighting, secondary explosions and shock waves, and dynamic lighting. Until I got the patch, I thought the game was a little to hard. But having a very fast computer makes it easier to go on the attack, and get out of the way quickly.

The story line and plot are a little on the weak side, but the game-play is the best I've seen in quite a while. The stimulus is certainly there- there are no dull moments. You are either racing down a corridor or in a intense fire-fight. I use the mouse for looking and aiming, and the keyboard for up down left right. The setup, the same I use for Quake and all other 3D shooters, is unbeatable. A better setup can not found. People who try to play these games with a joystick or just the keyboard always get their butt kicked.

Kids really like this game. It's cartoon animation, and well done. It has several funny moments in it. I don't care a whole lot for this type of game because the gameplay seems linear. You click on different parts of the screen to see what you can do with different objects, and each screen is like a little puzzle that must be solved to get to the next screen. By the end of the game, you've completed a large set of loosely connected puzzles. It's a good family game played together because everyone often has different suggestions.

This game is fun to play. The graphics are outstanding and smooth on my Rendition Verite 2100 and the TNT. I would not even consider buying this game though if you don't have a MMX Pentium running at 200 MHZ system and a strong Direct3D accelerator board. I'm looking forward to trying out the multiplayer aspect of this game on my home network.

The realistic physics used on the truck makes this game fun to watch- as the tires hit bumps and irregularities in the road, you can see the shocks and struts working. The lamps and headlights on the trucks look great at night. This is a great family game because old and young alike seem instantly drawn into the game. It is narrated with pro-wrestling comments throughout, which adds to the element.

The game works well with the force feedback joystick. You can feel the stick shake and pull as you hit various irregularities in the terrain.

Kids like this one, but because it is a side scrolling adventure game, I have no interest in it other than to admire it's fantastic artwork and cartoon-type animation. It is also a very large game, that has countless levels. I've never seen the last half of the game. There is a funny slobish character who has a funny voice and has a few pretty good lines. He scratches his butt a lot.

The actually gameplay screens looks and work exactly like Arcade America, above. Different characters, different story. Main character is a humorous animated worm.

When this game came out in 1995, it was known for it's great dog fighting and quick update rates. I reinstalled the game for kicks a couple of months ago to see how it would run on a computer 3 times faster than the one it was designed for and got stellar frame rates. But by today's accelerated 3D standards, the graphics looked simple and weak.

Bought this game in 1995 on the advice of a friend who loved it on his new P133. I thought the game was to choppy on my P90 and as a result I've only played this game about twice. It looked promising, but was to slow for my tastes. I've been meaning to pull it back out to see how well it works on the AMD K6 300.

One of the first "built for Windows 95" games, this package had a great looking box. Little did I know that all the screen shots on the box were from the cinematic cut-scenes. When the interactive portion of the game started, you were dropped into a cheesy "put the cross hairs here" rip-off that was no fun at all. I never made it past the first sequence, where you land on the planet. They made the game way to stupid, and way to hard.

I picked up the shareware version of this for about $4.99 and liked what I saw. Some magazine reviews I read liked the game, others did not. What I liked about this early 3D shooter was that for once, the enemies were not space aliens, but real looking people. Even today, all the Quake and Hexen based games and even Unreal choose to go the "space aliens from hell" route, even though it's been done a thousand times. The game presents more of a moral dilemma than other 3D shooters, as you can have wounded bad guys drop to their knees with their hand in the air, begging for their life.

This is a great game that always kept surprising me. It is both funny, and weird at the same time. There are countless add on levels now, and although I only owned the shareware version of this game, I plan to buy the upcoming release Duke Nukem Forever. I also have the full version of the original 2D side scroller Duke Nukem, which was one of the better side-scrolling shooters to hit the PC.