Tribes 2
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (30 March, 2001)
list price: $14.99
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Are you a team player? You'd better be if you hope to succeedin Tribes 2, an epic first-person shooter where the lifetime ofa lone wolf is usually measured in seconds. Like its predecessor,Tribes 2 focuses on team-based multiplayer combat in40th-century wars between jetpack-equipped infantry factions. A minimalsingle-player tutorial campaign is included to let newcomersfamiliarize themselves with the game's mechanics, but nothing can fullyprepare a person for the chaos of Tribes 2's unique flavor ofmultiplayer first-person combat.

Tribes 2 simply shines in the multiplayer team conflicts forwhich it was designed, and the tactical possibilities are nearlyendless. Players can hop into vehicles, as a pilot skims over theplanet's surface and threads narrow canyons while team members in theback blast enemies as they whip by. Miles of varying terrain separateeach team's base, yet the transitions from outdoors to indoors areentirely seamless, regardless of an installation's complexity. Thereare endless weapon load outs and armor combinations from which tochoose, and equipment, such as targeting lasers and deployable defenseturrets, really add to the game's depth. For example, a player in lightscout armor can quickly move to within range of an outpost, thenilluminate it with the targeting laser for his heavily armed buddiescrouching behind a hill. These heavies can fire their mobile mortars incomplete safety with the knowledge that the laser will guide the roundson target. This is just one example of the need for teamwork inTribes 2.

Graphically, Tribes 2 leaves a little to be desired in terms ofdetail, but the massive environments more than compensate for thatshortcoming. It sometimes is possible to see enemies approaching from afew miles away, and those foolish enough to silhouette themselves on aridgeline are soon dispatched by an enemy laser sniper they'll probablynever see. The special effects are excellent, and there are fewshooters on the market that can match the intensity Tribes 2reaches when dozens of players are fighting all at once. --T. ByrlBaker

Pros:

• Crisp graphics with great special effects
• Team-based gameplay offers a whole new world for deathmatch fans toexplore

Cons:

• Lame single-player campaign
• It is tough to learn the ropes in the brutal online matches

... Read more

Features

Reviews (155)

50,000 people playing Counter-Strike right now?
Tribes 2 is a really fun game. Sierra/Dynamix got just about everything right. Of course, what's unique about the Tribes series is that players are equipped with a jet-pack. This adds a whole new dimension of speed, vertical movement, and FPS mayhem to the contest.

The weapons are a kick. There's the Tribes standard Disk Launcher, which shoots explosive blue frisbees. It has a medium rate, medium damage, and high speed shot which explodes on contact. There's my favorite, the grenade launcher, which has a medium range and requires the player to arc their shot accurately. It's a good all around choice. There is the laser rifle, which shoots a light-speed red beam and satisfies the inner sniper in all of us. The player must wear the energy pack. The chaingun is the finishing weapon great for gunning down opponents attempting to survive or escape by going aerial. Then there are some lesser used weapons like the shock lance which kills any opponent instantly if used from behind. It's fun for stealth kills and dealing with incoming heavies. There is the ELF, which drains the enemy's power, rendering them "grounded" or shieldless as the case may be. The standard blaster is pretty useless but you can really burn an opponent if you sneak up behind them and get a blaster kill. And there's a rocket launcher for the bigger armor types that can lock on to exhaust ports and deliver a real stinger. Finally the mighty mortar, available only to the heavy armor, delivers a lethal blast in about a 40 foot radius. Great for base-raping and disintegrating enemies in light armor. Hilarious to see when a shell lands smoking in front of anunwitting player.

The vehicles are fantastic too. The gunship is kind of useless but being part of a good bomber crew is one of the more satisfying experiences in any shooter out there, mark ye. Then there is a tank, which is fun for running over guys. There is a grav cycle and a single player fighter, both of which will test the skill of any FPS player worth his salt. Every facet of the game is loaded with humor; well as much humor as you can stand in simulated mass death and total destruction, anyway.

The visuals are quite good even years after release, and the sound is remarkable with huge bass sounds if your subwoofer and speaker system can deliver the punch. The maps are great. The play is fast and furious. You can approach the game many different ways due to different packs (energy, shield, stealth, repair, etc.). You can play defense, chase down flag grabbers, or defend the generator. Or you can raid the enemy base, go for the flag, skirmish, go stealth and take out unwitting enemies. The possibilities are endless. Admittedly, things can get frustrating if the enemy is concerted and organized in their assault. But if you find your role or just play smart and learn some tricks, you can become your very own one-man wrecking crew.

The voice menus are amusing, and they add a touch of fun to the game. There are about 14 or so different voices to choose from, each with a bunch of different taunts, compliments, and statements. I often find myself laughing out loud or imitating the voices in my daily grind.

Now what I want to know is, if Tribes 2 offers all this for 5 dollars total, has great graphics and gameplay, super sound, fast and chaotic action requiring skill and expertise, tons of play approaches, headsets/voice communication, killer weapons, and you get to jet around a plethora of cool maps at 200 mph...then why the heck are only 700 people playing in the whole country?

At any one time of day you can log on to Counter-Strike and find 50 to 60 thousand players and 100 thouand or more during peak hours. What the heck? Tribes 2 is a vastly superior game in every department, and yet Counter-Strike (also a Sierra game) practically has a monopoly on online play. I just don't get it. Come on people, pick up a copy of Tribes 2 and get to fightin'. It puts CS to shame (as well UT2004, Quake 3, CofD, MofH, and many others much newer-to be honest)! What's wrong with online gamers these days? There's more to multiplayer than Counter-Strike. Tribes 2 is super fun, easy to learn, and still has an active community. Don't let those little girly-men who couldn't handle the learning curve scare you off with their namby-pamby reviews Tribes 2 offers everything you could want in an online FPS, and it requires a good amount of skill to learn and excel at. So come on people! Get with the program: Tribes 2.

Incredible simply amazing
ive been playing tribes 2 for maybe 2 years. and in all of my experiences i have never found a game that was this good. first off, you know your in for a treat when you start a match and you see men flying around everywhere in arieal combat. The maps are huge and its easy to get lost. Tribes 2 combines rpg and first person shooting like never before. there are 3 armour types light medium and juggernaut. each carrys diffrent weaponry, for example a light can only care small equipment while a juggernaut carrys huge weapons. This gives the player a diffrent role in the game. Juggernauts defend or provide heavy attack while lights go for speed wreckign havoc at great speeds and heights. To give even more team play to the game, you dont have to be a good shooter to do well, you can go around and repair turrets or drive a tank and support your forces. As well as setting up defenses in your base or putting mines in areas where the enemy keeps harrasing you. There are 6 types of veichles. Ranging from fighters (shrikes) to bombers to motor cycles and transports and a mobile base. The game is clearly made to support clan warfare because in the menu you can see tribe websites as well as plan fights in the chat rooms. There is also a single player which is basically a tutorial. It has no real storyline though. This game was made for the online play. But if your internet is too slow or your in a lan party, you can put up to 16 bots which are smart but ultimatley not as fun playing with as humans. The game is also made better by allowing players to create their own maps weapons and characters and veichles so you can have a diffrent experience in the same game. The only downside to this though is that sometimes the game will exit in an unhandled expectation. Although this is rare it will really get you mad. Though if you download the patch which is mandatory for online play, it will happen even less. In summary to me this game is a one of a kind that combines team play with action and creativity. although the learning curve is pretty steep you will still love it. buy it or wait for the upcoming sequel tribes: vengeance.

This Game is now free at fileplanet
Unless you badly want a disc copy, this game is now free for download from fileplanet. (www.fileplanet.com)
It's a promotion for the upcoming Tribes: Vengance, which is coming out later this year.

Also, the games younger incarnation, Starsiege: Tribes is also free.

Don't forget, you need a CD key (which you can get for free at the same site) for tribes 2 ... Read more

Asin: B00004TJ2T
Subjects:  1. Two (II)    2. Starsiege    3. Science Fiction (SciFi, Sci Fi)    4. Computer Games    5. Action    6. Shooters (Shooter)    7. Military (Tactics)    8. Havas   

Myst 3: Exile
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (08 May, 2001)
list price: $49.95
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Myst arrived just in time to take advantage of brand-newCD-ROM technology, and quickly became the number-one reason to buy anew computer. Myst and its sequel, Riven, featuredbeautiful and lonely landscapes, a strong and fascinating sense ofpervading mystery, and puzzles both fiendish and clever. Playersnavigated through the games by clicking on points of interest, andsolved puzzles by paying careful attention to the lush graphics andhaunting sounds of the environment. Myst III: Exile proudlycontinues and even advances that tradition.

Myst's ongoing story line is as convoluted as it is fantastic.Central to the story is the mysterious civilization of the D'ni, whichcreates entire worlds by writing books. Other books are used to linkthe D'ni worlds together. Myst trapped the player in a series ofinterconnected worlds, and challenged the player to puzzle through theramblings of two mad brothers in order to free Atrus, their imprisonedfather. Riven revealed more of the history of the D'ni, and sentthe player to the unstable world of Riven in order to rescue Atrus'swife.

Myst III: Exile concerns Atrus's earnest attempt at creating anew world. He hopes this world will mark the rebirth of the D'ni, butbefore he finishes his book, a thief (portrayed in the game by actorBrad Dourif) breaks into his laboratory and mucks things up. You haveto track this thief through worlds written by Atrus in his earlieryears. Within each world you must right the wrongs the thief hascreated, all the while uncovering a deeper mystery surrounding hisrelationship to Atrus and his troublesome children. Prior experiencewith Myst and Riven isn't necessary for this thirdexcursion, but familiarity with Myst's point-and-click gameplayand its often infuriating puzzle logic helps.

New to the game is a full 3-D landscape, which replaces the staticprerendered artwork of the previous games. The gorgeous new graphicsallow you to quickly pan and scan your way through an area, looking forpuzzles and action spots with the hand cursor. The puzzles have beenimproved so that you can now see changes to the environment immediatelyafter you solve one, rather than simply moving on to the next picture.Still, the puzzles are often wickedly difficult and may provefrustrating to new players.

The environment is the true star of the game, and is sure to enchantplayers of all stripes. As before, the music and artwork are topnotchand immersing, and the experience is not easily forgotten. Mystfans of old will be delighted with this new installment, and those newto the series will be enchanted, provided they are willing to spendtime on the puzzles, enjoy the scenery, and let the game carry themaway. --Andrew S. Bub

Pros:

• A strong continuation of the series
• Brilliant new artwork and music

Cons:

• Puzzles can be confusing
• Not for impatient gamers

... Read more

Features

• Free-look movement system allows players to pan a full 360 at any location, fully immersing them in the world.
• 5 entirely new ages to explore.
• Dramatic storyline extends the Myst mythology by focusing on a pivotal new character.
• Puzzle solving, revealing mystery & intrigue.
• Original soundtrack.

Reviews (336)

Visions of this will follow you while youfall asleep...
I leave it to the other posters for the specifics. Just an emotional response here.
A must for anyone who can use a computer and find a walkthrough or 4 to finish this game. It isn't the easiest game but one of the most beautiful and memorable!
It has such beauty, you'd regret not having played it.
Schizm I, and the Beyond Atlantis series also show such beauty.
All can be found here.
Please, please, play this game! The visions you will encounter will fill your mind and blot away life's problems as you fall asleep. Hey! This is a series. There's more! Yep!
Check them out!

Wonderful and challanging third installment in the MYST saga
If I was able to be personally with Catherine, I'd probably be spending much more time complimenting her hair (because it's so long, almost as long as Crystal Gayle's), than talking of the Releeshan.

OK, so Catherine is just a fictitional character, but of course I'm sure they needed a real person to do the acting.

I am new to Myst, already trying the Masterpiece Edition (which was basically the original MYST with some improvements), and Riven. With Myst III, one huge improvement found here you can't find on the previous two is you can look around 360 degrees so you can see if there's anything missing on your journey. The drawback is, if you're not familiar with the game, you can easily get dizzy.

In this game, you're supposed to retrieve a book called the Releeshan, which was stolen. On the way, you get to solve lots of puzzles, collect pages, and visit different worlds. There is lot of trippy music, some of it sounding pretty sinister sounding, as you go through some very dreamy landscapes. Admittedly this isn't an easy game to win, but like on the previous MYST installments, you must be sure to write things on paper to solve the puzzles. Many of these puzzles give you access to new passages you need to make to reach the end of each world. The animation is great as well. I can't believe how advanced in graphics games have became, I've been playing games since the old days of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, and it never fails me how newer games have stunningly realistic graphics, as demonstrated on MYST III.

A truly wonderful game for those enjoy adventure games!

The Very Best Myst of All!!!
I wasn't so sure about buying this game, because i was so disappointed by Riven, but i was amazed by the new 360° freelook interface in Exile, the quality of the video and rendering of the worlds is incredible, even the storyline is very exciting.

A must have for every Myst fan out there! ... Read more

Asin: B000056O4Q
Subjects:  1. three (III) myst3    2. Computer Games    3. Adventure    4. Board    5. Macintosh (Machintosh)    6. Mac    7. Apple    8. Computer Role Playing Games (Game, crpg, crpgs, rpg, rpgs)    9. Computer Role Playing Games (Game, rpgs, rpg, crpg, crpgs)   

Team Fortress 2
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM

US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

With Team Fortress 2, you'll experience the thrill of battle while performing as part of a team or battle squadron. This approach more closely approximates real-life battle and enables new and experienced players to play together in a way that challenges each individual and enhances the overall experience.

When you first log on for a game, you'll be recruited immediately by a team and cast in one of nine roles, or character classes, such as medic, spy, or even the machine gun-toting heavy infantryman. Once you join a team and pick a class, you'll function in that class as part of the team, working together to complete any number of map-specific objectives. The success of your team depends not just on the skill levels of each individual, but on your squad's cohesiveness and team play.

The map objectives range from traditional capture-the-flag styles of play to spy missions and beyond, including complex missions similar to those found in real-time strategy games.

Team Fortress 2 builds on the technology advancements that first appeared in Half-Life. For example, while Half-Life was the first game to use skeletal animation for realistic character movement, Team Fortress 2 pushes the envelope with parametric animation. This technology gives characters completely lifelike moves, such as heads that turn in the direction they are looking and leg strides that adjust depending on stance and condition. ... Read more

Reviews (21)

this game is rumored to be at e3
this game rocks and please if valve or steam sees this just make a graphic upgrade and 3 more classes this would make anyone happy and steam news reported half life 2 for xbox is going to be at e3 and team fortress 2 is nolonger team fortress 2 its team fortress source and i called game stop and supposed to be coming out in september call gamestop and call it team fortress 2 if not recorded there tell them team fortress source valve please just make a graphic upgrade and make it downloadable on steam!

Not a Real Product!
Valve has already admitted that TF2 was a cover name for Half-Life 2
TF2 doesn't exist in separate retail form, however, supposedly a TF2 will be included with Half-Life 2
Its just amazing how many retailers bought into it, and then, how many people actually think that this was supposed to be released (separate from HL2)
Ignore this, and go get Half-Life 2
(and use a Nvidia card, Radeons aren' that good)

Wha
I am still playing the orginial TFC in (almost) 2004! How LAME! ... Read more

Asin: B00002S9ZV
Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Action    3. Shooters (Shooter)   

Max Payne
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (26 July, 2001)

US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Max Payne, the New York police detective, has had a bad time of itrecently, and it's time for payback. Three years ago, junkies high on amysterious new narcotic called Valkyr slaughtered his wife and child. Thetragedy drives him on a prolonged path of vengeance. It turns him from adetective looking for easy work to a deep undercover vice cop infiltrating theMob to a hardened vigilante. Max Payne is a film-noir-inspired gameabout revenge that is unflinching in every way possible. It's dark and moody,extremely twisted, and turns PC action gaming on its ear by featuringstate-of-the-art graphics, audio, and cinematic action.

Aside from its inspired use of photorealistic graphics and unique graphic novel(comic book) panels to further the plot, the game also features something calledBullet Time: a slow-motion toggle, usable for a limited time, that re-createsthe awe-inspiring diving maneuvers made popular by director John Woo and, ofcourse, The Matrix. At the touch of a button, Max can go into slow motionand leap forwards or back, and side to side, while pumping generous amounts oflead into his enemy's bodies. This toggle isn't just eye candy, it's a strategicdevice that evens the sometimes staggering odds the game throws at you. Theaction is made even more visceral by the interactive environments (glassshatters, plaster puffs into dust, and wood splinters) and generous amounts ofblood.

The game carries a Mature label, and this should be taken very seriously. Thegame doesn't pull a single punch, whether in flashbacks showing Max's reactionto his gunned-down spouse, or even, somewhat tastelessly, flashbacks thatinclude his slain infant daughter. And he mows down a virtual army of hackneyedJoe Pesci-style Italian mobsters or ski-mask-wearing terrorists with extremeprejudice. The plot is predictable, the script is humorously bad (intentionallyso?), but the action will definitely make a shooter fan drool. Max Payneis the übershooter, and as such, it should be kept out of the hands ofkids. But mature action fans will love it. --Andrew S. Bub

Pros:

• Fantastic graphics and unparalleled action
• The slow-motion Bullet Time is The Matrix or Hard Boiled cometo life

Cons:

• It's a little on the short side
• The script is, at times, hilariously bad

... Read more

Features

Reviews (342)

a very well done game
3 stars is pretty good for me as i have yet to give a game 5 stars and i would say max payne is maybe 3 and a half. i wont really go into the plot much of this game as its always the easiest info to come across. i'll just give you my positives and my complaints that lead to my score.

positive:
a good story!,
i find video games woefully deficient in this regard normally and when people talk about good stories at best i think it is relative. i am still waiting for a great story, but found mp to be one of the (few) reasonably solid ones. as a fan of cutscenes i thought i would miss them more than i did (the story is told through quite good graphic novel panels). the ending in particular is notably satisfying, with the gameplay integrating well and interestingly with the action itself to produce an actual, mostly reasonable, closed ending conclusion (shockingly rare in computer games!).

you can save the game anytime.

looks pretty nice for a dated game, not beautiful, but can be stylish.

good gameplay balance and feel, i liked the voice acting and characters, film noir theme worked quite well (i enjoyed the lack of monsters!) interesting progression of improved weapons, gameplay mechanics sound, self adjusting difficulty levels a little bit of an odd concept, but actually worked pretty well (the game adjusts the difficulty level according to how you're doing), i like my games a bit on the easier side of things and the level of challenge here was really pretty good for me. i had really only a couple notably frustrating times (one a run through a burning building), but i've hadworse. also, i LIKED the length of this game! it is a common complaint that it was too short, but i find very few games are actually anywhere good or interesting enough to hold my interest all the way through as they all end up as more of the same after awhile. 12 to 15 hours (a guess, i don't exactly recall) is a very good length for a shooter and seemed just right for max payne.

you might also enjoy that this game should work on even a pretty dated system today (i found the game very stable with its patch), and that you should be able to get it for dirt cheap.

negatives:

the extremely interesting bullet time feature, while cool, actually gives no advantage that i can tell. if anything it was a disadvantage mostly and you're better off just barging through or in (they fix this in max payne 2, but do worse on other accounts).

there are alot of locked doors as in "hmm this door is locked, i'll try that one, oh, i tried that already."

the gameplay is not notably diverse, shooting, navigating, a bit of light puzzle solving. the gritty urban world is okay, but not all that interesting to explore or anything.

conclusion: this is a very good meat and potatoes action adventure shooter. it will not blow you away but is pretty fun and as good as pretty much anything else in its genre (taking into account its age which probably means less than most of us "newest thing" addicts are inclined to admit). i recommend it.

Re:yeah!
to this day, this game still kicks! awesome graphics, awesome gameplay, etc. If your into games like this one, Pick this one up. a+

Fun but a little limited...
Yeah, I know, I'm 3 years behind the curve here, but I've finally gotten around to loading the Max Payne CD I've had sitting around forever.

There's lots to like about this game; the cutscenes (which I usually hate) are in an entertaining graphic novel format that's well done & you can skip it if you're replaying after being killed. The voice acting is much better than most games. I love a number of the details such as the guy who was about to receive oral gratification from a hooker when Max barges in, shooting at you with his pants around his ankles. I laughed out loud at that & other similar details. The bullet time feature is especially helpful when you're faced with groups of bad guys, & the environment is probably the grittiest I've ever seen in a video game. The fact that Max pops pills to keep going is also a nice touch; no health packs laying around in corners in this game!

What I don't like are the linear aspects of this game. When walking down a street or a corridor, there may be 4 doors visible, but only 1 will open. There's no opportunity to explore your environment, & no curves; everything is square or rectangular. The gameplay of Max Payne is a shooter at it's most mindless; there are no choices other than which weapon you'll blow people away with & whether you'll do it in bullet time. Considering that Max Payne was released after Deus Ex & No One Lives Forever, with their fully realized worlds & multiple choices in strategy makes the developers simple-mindedness a little disappointing.

If Max Payne had the depth & variety of Deus Ex, it would rank as one of the best games ever made. Instead, it's simply a fun & inventive shooter. ... Read more

Asin: B00002SUOV
Subjects:  1. maxpayne    2. Third person    3. Computer Games    4. Action    5. Shooters (Shooter)   

Black & White
Average Customer Review:
CD-ROM (28 March, 2001)

US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

If you've ever wanted to play god, Black & White shoulddefinitely be on your short list. This highly anticipated game takesthe concept literally, letting players navigate and influence a lushworld using only the "hand of god" as an interface. Players can use thehand to uproot trees, hurl rocks, rescue (or punish) followers, andcontrol all aspects of the camera as it zooms, dips, and swerves overthe completely 3-D environments.

The game gets off to a slow start, but things pick up once players getto choose their creatures. Creatures are giant animals that serve asyour physical link to the mortal world, and they have a sophisticatedartificial intelligence that lets players teach them how to act. In thebeginning, there's only a cow, ape, and tiger from which to pick, butthe choices expand as the game progresses. And for a limited time, Amazon.com customers can download a bonus creature--a magnificent horse. Click here for details.

Ultimately, creatures grow, and their appearance gradually changes toreflect both their tendency toward good or evil and the treatmentthey've received from the player. Deny the animal access to food and itwill lose weight. Pet it each time it eats a villager and you'll soonhave an evil juggernaut that strikes fear into people's hearts. Most ofthe game's fun comes from spending time teaching your creature andsimply watching the crazy things it does of its own volition. Best ofall, players and creatures don't have to have the same alignment,making it possible to be an evil god with a glowing, beloved,benevolent creature. It all depends on why you choose to reward orpunish the creature.

Unfortunately, Black & White tries to be too many things atonce, and there is rarely any real focus. It's difficult to enjoytraining a creature when villages need protecting, villagers needdirection, and buildings need to be built in order to expand theplayer's influence and ultimately win each level. It wouldn't be so badif the villagers were half as smart as the game's creatures, but theyrequire a lot of micromanagement to work efficiently. The single-playercampaign gives players plenty of time in each mission to overcome theseshortcomings, but prepare to spend many long hours administrating yourholdings for every hour of pure joy that Black & White iscapable of providing. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Great graphics and animations
• Exceptional creature artificial intelligence
• Plenty of keyboard shortcuts, greatly simplifying the complexcamera controls

Cons:

• Managing villagers and buildings can be a chore
• The manual is completely inadequate considering the complexity ofthe creature AI

... Read more

Reviews (506)

Frustrating!
I played this game for about a month, but it got so tedious andfrustrating that I quit. I am 12 years old and I've beaten Civilization III and other games like that but this game I just couldn't finish. Do yourself a favour, and don't even try it.

Not for the blood thirsty
If you like running from room to room or planet to planet (or whatever) shooting things and blowing stuff up.This is NOT the game for you.

If you enjoy sociological endeavors, you'll enjoy this game.

As others have said, micromanaging (who ever said God's job was easy?), is tedeous BUT the one person who complained obviously did not read some of the instructions.You can set up short cuts to various places on your island.Then it is as simple as pressing "4" to get from one place to the place you've designated as area "4".No biggie.

There does not appear to be any book out on how to accomplish things you want to accomplish.I suppose that is because there are too many variables in the game.

Some parts of the game are pretty funny.The boat builders song is pretty humerous as well as people falling "in love" and giggling etc.

So, all in all, not the most riveting game I've ever played but certainly not the most boring.This is kind of like SIMS meets The Swiss Family Robinson.

At $3 for a used version, how bad could it be?

Wish I had gotten mine for that price!

If you have Windows98/ME & A LOT of Ram. You need see this..
I saw some people have problems running this game.If your system is Windows98/ME and you have more than 512 MB memory in stalled, you need to see this ... otherwise you will get game crashes more frequently ... not just in Black & White, but other games as well. You need to follow the workaround method as follows.

I first come across this knowledge from www.nvidia.com FAQ : Windows 98 and ME were based on the original Windows 95 kernel which was never designed for handling a lot of memory. These systems will experience various operational difficulties if more than 512MB physical memory is installed. These problems are due to how the 32-bit protected-mode cache driver (VCache) for Windows 9x/ME reserves memory.With more than 512MB memory, VCache may reserve most of the virtual addresses available.This issue does not affect Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 2000. Directions for correcting this problem are outlined in Microsoft's Knowledge Base article number 253912:[...]
CAUSE :
The Windows 32-bit protected-mode cache driver (Vcache) determines the maximum cache size based on the amount of RAM that is present when Windows starts, or 800MB, whichever is less. Vcache then reserves enough memory addresses to permit it to access a cache of the maximum size so that it can increase the cache to that size if needed.. These addresses are allocated in a range of virtual addresses from 0xC0000000 through 0xFFFFFFFF (virtual address occupy between 3 gigabyte and 4 gigabyte area - a space of only 1 gigabytes) known as the system arena.

On computers with large amounts of RAM, the maximum cache size can be large enough that Vcache consumes nearly all of the addresses in the system arena, leaving little virtual memory addresses available for other system process.

This problem may occur more readily with Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) video adapters because the AGP aperture is also mapped to addresses in the system arena. For example, if Vcache is using a maximum cache size of 800 MB and an AGP video adapter has a 128-MB aperture mapped, there is very little address space remaining for the other system code and data that must occupy this range of virtual addresses.


WORKAROUND :

- Add the MaxFileCache line as follows in the System.ini file to reduce the maximum cache size that Vcache uses to 512 MB (512x1024 =524288 KB. Note: The value for these settings are in kilobytes) or less :
[VCache]
MaxFileCache=524288

- Then reboot computer to have setting take effect. You should suffer FAR LESS crashes in many games. Your game can still crash, though.But it will be due to other problems - game bugs, drivers too old, etc.
... Read more

Asin: B00004UE0O
Subjects:  1. Computer Games    2. Action    3. Strategy (Strategic)    4. Fantasy    5. Computer Role Playing Games (Game, rpgs, rpg, crpg, crpgs)