ST Report: 21-Mar-97 #1312
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 04/03/97-08:59:55 AM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 21-Mar-97 #1312
Date: Thu Apr 3 08:59:55 1997
Silicon Times Report
"The Original Independent OnLine Magazine"
(Since 1987)
March 21, 1997 No.1312
Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine
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R.F. Mariano, Editor
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03/21/97 STR 1312 Celebrating Our Tenth Anniversary 1987-97!
- CPU Industry Report - AOL, NEW Suit - ATAPI ZIP Drive
- Hayes to buy Cardinal - Shareware Listings - ATM in ORBIT
- Motorola gets Smart - Windows in Chinese - CompuServe Sued
- 3D Tomb Raider! - Towers Review - Classics & Gaming
Intel Sues AMD, Cyrix Corp.
Supreme Court Hears Decency Case
Microsoft Files Piracy Suit
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Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35
Results: 03/15/97: 2 of 6 numbers, no matches
>From the Editor's Desk...
Spring has SPRUNG! I hope the weather in your area is as pretty as
ours. Now on to the goodies.. Corel has a "Revision" CD for all Office
Perfect Owners. Give `em a call they'll send it to you via Airborne
Express for a ten dollar shipping and handling fee. That is a real
bargain. The revisions include speed enhancements, file loading and
retrieval enhancements, printer compatibility enhancements and stability
improvements. It is well worth the effort to obtain.
What's with all this proposed "Control Legislation" being offered by these
unknown freshmen?
The Internet is their Patsy!
The Internet seems to be constantly "under fire" these days by
politicians who give the impression they are trying desperately to make
some sort of a name for themselves. Unfortunately it is at the "expense"
of the net and its users. These "clowns" need not be re-elected.
Will they ever do the job they are there for?
They should, in our humble opinion, be addressing the ever climbing
cost of living, the crowds (literally) of homeless in most every city in
this land, the injustices being "perped" upon those applying and
desperately needing Social Security benefits and finally the obvious three
ring circus in Washington DC called "The House and Senate."
Time is running out for them!
These "Junior" Legislators had better wake up FAST . The electorate
was overjoyed in getting shed of the Packwoods and Rostenkowski's what
makes them think they are immune?? To watch this country's top levels of
government spend the best part of its time taking pot shots at each other,
the President and his family is disgusting. Actually, its more like highly
insulting to our intelligence.
Bye, Bye to the wheel spinners!
Personally, I'm going to vote for anyone who is not, that's right, NOT
in either the Senate or House at this time. If such is not possible, I'll
then devote some "quality time" (neat phrase eh? - means nothing!) each
week to chronicle the expensive waste these highly "paid and pensioned"
Representatives of ours perpetrate upon the taxpayers.
That's my opinion, what's yours?
Ralph...
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STReport Headline News
LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Supreme Court Hears Decency Case
By trying to protect children from "indecent" material on the Internet, a
federal law is so restrictive that it affects the free speech rights of
adults, says a lawyer for 47 plaintiffs challenging the Communications
Decency Act. Speaking yesterday before the U.S. Supreme Court of Appeals,
attorney Bruce J. Ennis added, "This law will have the unconstitutional
effect of banning speech for adults in cyberspace... That is what this law
does."
But Justice Department lawyer Seth P. Waxman told the court, "The Internet
threatens to give every child a free pass into the equivalent of every
adult bookstore and every adult video store in the country." At issue is
the 1996 Communications Decency Act, passed by Congress and
signed by President Clinton in February 1996, but struck down by a
three-judge panel in Philadelphia which ruled key parts of the law violated
the First Amendment.
Covering yesterday's arguments in Washington, Associated Press writer
Laurie Asseo notes this is the highest court's first venture into
cyberspace law, a fact underscored by several justices who tried to figure
out what kind of communication to compare to the global computer network.
For instance:
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor suggested the Internet could be viewed as a
public place, "`much like a street corner or a park." Justice Stephen G.
Breyer said the Net "is very much like a telephone." But Justice Antonin
Scalia said that in any context it is lawful for government to require that
pornographic material be kept away from children, adding, "We say... tough
luck, you have to sell it in stores" rather than on the street.
In his arguments, Ennis, representing groups including the American Library
Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, as saying, "The
government cannot reduce the adult population to reading or viewing only
what is appropriate for children." Waxman said any child who knows how to
"click a mouse" can go online and find sexually explicit material like that
foundin Hustler and Penthouse magazines, adding, "We think this (law) is a
small price to pay" to protect children from such material.
AP says Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wondered whether the government could
prohibit indecent conversations on a public street with minors present. And
Breyer asked whether the Internet law would make it a crime for high school
students to have an online conversation about their sexual experiences.
"You mean there's no high school student exemption?" Scalia interjected in
a sarcastic tone. Meanwhile, Ennis argued the law would not be effective
because a large amount of indecent online material comes from overseas and
that computer blocking devices allow parents to keep such material away
from their children and leave adults free to view it. Asseo says a
decision is expected by July.
AOL Hit With New Class Action Suit
A class action suit has been brought in federal court against America
Online by a California law firm that accuses the Dulles, Virginia, online
company of fraudulent business practices, including racketeering, mail
fraud and wire fraud. In the suit, four plaintiffs, all residents of
California, seek damages in excess of $100 million. Reporting from Los
Angeles, the Reuter News Service notes the suit is the latest in a series
of legal attacks against AOL by frustrated customers who have had trouble
logging on to AOL since it went to a flat fee pricing structure of $19.95 a
month late last year. As reported AOL in January offered to refund
customers up to $39.90 each as part of a settlement with 36 states,
pledging to hold its membership at 8 million members until it was confident
it could meet the needs of its current members. Reuters says the new suit,
filed by the Los Angeles law firm of Standbury & Fishelman, alleges AOL:
z Manipulated its subscriber base in order to run up the company's stock
price and achieve a dominant position in the market that would then allow
the company to impose higher advertising rates.
z Used improper methods to retain free tral subscribers and to prevent
existing customers from canceling their memberships.
Reuters reports, "These methods included secret payment or allowance of
rebates, free hours, refunds, commissions or unearned discounts, the
lawsuit claimed." Allowed several executives to unload large portions of
stock before the company announced it was taking a substantial charge to
pay for changes in the company's accounting practices. Violated rights to
privacy by failing to prevent outside groups from accessing the computers
of subscribers when they make contact with the service.
An AOL spokeswoman said the allegations are groundless, telling the wire
service, "When the law changes and plaintiffs have to pay for frivolous
lawsuits, suits like this won't be filed anymore. There is no merit to this
lawsuit."
Apple to Cut Third of Work Force
Apple Computer Inc. says it will cut nearly a third of its work force --
some 4,100 employees -- and scale back its Macintosh line of computers and
software in a move to reverse its losses. Chairman Gil Amelio said late
yesterday, "We've made the right decision to focus our energies, and these
decisions -- I am absolutely convinced -- will put us on the road back to
health, and we'll be looking at a very different situation over the next
few quarters." Business writer Catalina Ortiz of The Associated Press
notes Apple's "chronic losses and shrinking market share have forced it
into a series of retrenchments that have so far failed to stop the
slide." In four of the past five quarters, Apple has posted losses totaling
$936 million and its share of the overall PC market fell from 7.9 percent
to 5.2 percent over the past year.
Reporting from Apple's Cupertino, California, headquarters, AP quotes
officials with the computer maker, which employs 13,400 people, as saying
the cuts of 2,700 full-time workers and 1,400 part-time and contract
employees will trim its bottom line this quarter by $155 million. The goal
of the cuts is to save $500 million in annual costs. Apple also says it
will simplify its offerings of Macintosh computers and Power Book laptops,
and will try to cut costs by using technologies developed by other
companies instead of developing them on its own. Also, Apple said it will
deliver its next-generation operating system, code-named Rhapsody, next
year as planned, but will cut spending on future upgrades of the Mac
operating system, paring the number of new releases next year from two to
one. AP notes Apple also cut 1,500 jobs last year as part of the
restructuring implemented by Amelio, who was hired 13 months ago to turn
the company around.
Intel Sues AMD, Cyrix Corp.
Another round of court fights over chip trademarks is starting, as chip
giant Intel Corp. sues rivals Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Cyrix Corp.
for allegedly infringing its pending tradmark on "MMX" for its new
multimedia technology for Pentium chips. The suit, brought in U.S.
District Court in Delaware, breaks what reporter Dean Takahashi of The Wall
Street Journal this morning calls "a brief truce in legal warfare that has
characterized the chip business."
As reported, AMD and Intel fought long and hard over AMD's licenses for
cloning Intel chips. After eight years and hundreds of millions of dollars
spent on both sides, many critics complained "that corporate egos clouded
business judgment," Takahashi notes. Cyrix also has engaged in long- term
court battles with Intel, which alleged Cyrix violated Intel patents and
challenged Cyrix's Intel-compatible chips.
At least the latest action isn't likely to be as messy as past suits, the
Journal says, because it involves trademark issues, not fundamental
technology disputes. "However, in some quarters of the computer industry,"
adds the paper, "Intel will be perceived as more of a bully toward smaller
rivals. Because Intel controls such a dominant share of the chip market,
many PC makers are already sympathetic to AMD and Cyrix and want to see
them survive as viable alternatives to Intel."
For instance, analyst Michael Slater at Micro Design Resources Inc. told
the paper the suit "will provide more fuel for the Intel-haters, but it's
not such an extreme position to say that a company should own its own
trademarks. The problem is that Intel has gone about this the wrong way in
trying to protect its trademark."
Microsoft Files Piracy Suit
Microsoft Corp. has slapped a Web site operator with a lawsuit for
copyright infringement. According to the suit, filed Monday in the U.S.
District Court of Minnesota, a Web site operator identified as Christopher
Fazendin offered software that circumvented the time-limit security
features of a trial version of Office 97. The software giant says the
action enabled users to continue to use the product after the expiration of
a 90-day trial period. The alleged copyright infringement was brought to
Microsft's attention by a tip to the company's anti-piracy hotline.
Microsoft notes that the Office 97 trial version was being distributed
nationwide through a special joint promotion with Kinkos. "This kind of
illegal activity affects the entire software industry and is ultimately
going to hurt consumers," says Jim Lowe, Microsoft's corporate attorney.
"Trial programs allow consumers to 'test-drive' new software at minimal
cost. When someone deliberately encourages people to break the law and
violate the terms of a trial offer, it could result in fewer trial
opportunities for consumers in the future."
Novell Donates Piracy Raid Spoils To Brooklyn School
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1997 MAR 19 (Newsbytes) -- By Bob Woods.
In a move Novell [NASDAQ:NOVL] hopes to duplicate in the future, the
company donated about $10,000 worth of computer equipment seized in a 1995
raid of a bulletin board system (BBS) to a New York City junior high school
that "desperately needed" computers in that city's Brooklyn borough, a
Novell official said. Six computers -- one 386 and five 386's upgraded to
486's -- were given to Junior High School 296 earlier this week, Ron
Barker, Novell Anti-Piracy Group spokesperson, told Newsbytes. The machines
were also supplied with mouse devices and additional memory among other
upgrades, and were then loaded with legal copies of Windows, DOS, and
WordPerfect, he said.
The units were given to a school in the Brooklyn area because the BBS
involved in the raid was located in the borough, Barker said. Besides
donating the computers, Barker said Novell will aid in the training of
parents so that they can share their kids' experiences on the computers
after school. This marks the first time Novell has donated computers from
a software raid to a school or other needy institution, Barker said.
Novell hopes
to donate more equipment from raids, but the legal mechanisms involved in
court cases crank so slowly that it usually takes years for the computers
to be released from evidence, he said.
Earlier this year, the FBI staged a coordinated series of raids nationwide
following an eight month undercover investigation into software piracy.
The computer software piracy investigation, code-named "Cyber Strike," was
initiated and supervised by the FBI's International Computer Crime Squad
based in San Francisco (Newsbytes, Jan. 29, 1997). According to FBI
spokespersons, Cyber Strike is a "continuing investigation and additional
searches are anticipated in the near future."
The FBI said the investigation concerns the alleged efforts of individuals
and groups who have banded together to pass protected, restricted and/or
copyrighted information andcommercial copyrighted software through the use
of businesses and computer Bulletin Board Services (BBSs), Internet File
Transfer Protocol (FTP) sites, and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels.
The material seized as specified in the warrants included computer
hardware, documents and records, and included some of the most popular
program software commercially available, such as utilities, graphics,
networking programs, operating systems, and games.
According to the FBI, the victimized manufacturers of copyrighted products
and systems include Novell; Sega of America Inc.; Sony Computer
Entertainment; Autodesk Corp.; Microsoft Corp.; Adobe Systems Inc.; Intuit
Corp.; Symantec Corp.; and Nintendo of America Inc. In a recent
Newsbytes' interview, Sandra Sellers, vice president of intellectual
property rights, education and enforcement with Software Publishers
Association, said, "Getting law enforcement to understand the nature and
losses of software piracy is a critical element in reducing the losses this
industry incurs annually. There are a few law enforcement offices which
understand these problems."
She also acknowledged the value of extremely aggressive individual piracy
programs conducted by companies such as Microsoft, Novell and Autodesk.
Novell investigates more than 500 cases of alleged piracy every year,
official said, and has recovered revenues and prevented losses of more than
$60 million in 1996. Persons having information on pirated Novell software
are encouraged to call 800-PIRATES or send e-mail to piratesnovell.com,
Barker added.
Compaq in Alliance With Ericsson
Compaq Computer Corp. has joined in an alliance with Swedish communications
giant Ericsson to develop portable PC GSM products that will enable mobile
business users to connect to the Internet or corporate Intranet, send faxes
and electronic mail, and exchange documents. The first product resulting
from the alliance will be available by the end of the year, say the
companies.
The two firms already participate in joint ativities by marketing bundles
of Ericsson GSM mobile phones and Compaq notebook PCs in several European
countries. "Sending a message or receiving information on the move should
be as easy as making a phone call. It is all about communication
person-to-person and being in touch when you want. Our alliance with
Compaq will make it simpler than ever for the user to control both their
professional and private life," says Jan Ahrenbring, communications and
information director at Ericsson Mobile Communications. "Compaq has chosen
to partner with Ericsson as we believe its leadership in GSM technologies
and infrastructure will complement the communication abilities of our PCs.
Together we will be able to dramatically increase the effectiveness of the
European mobile professional," says Bruno Didier, Compaq's vice president
of PC products for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Hayes to Buy Pa. Modem Maker
Modem maker Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. has signed a letter of intent
to acquire Cardinal Technologies Inc., a Pennsylvania maker of modems and
ISDN adapters, for undisclosed terms. Reporting from Atlanta, the Dow
Jones news service notes Cardinal Technologies is 75 percent-owned by
Seattle's Vulcan Ventures, part of the Paul Allen Group of companies,
adding Hayes says Vulcan will buy an undisclosed "significant minority"
stake in Hayes in a separate deal. Says DJ, "Hayes plans to close
Cardinal's Lancaster, Pennsylvania, plant, and consolidate operations at
Hayes' Norcross, Georgia, facilities. Hayes expects to complete the deal
this month."
Apple Unveils 20th Anniversary Mac
Amidst steep financial losses, layoffs and assorted other woes, Apple
Computer Inc. is celebrating two decades in the computer business with the
Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh. A statement issued by the Cupertino,
California-based computer maker notes that the system "makes a profound
visual statement with its rich features of polished metal casing and
Italian leather." A sleek console houses the computer's active-matrix
flat-panel display, hard, floppy and CD-ROM drives, cable TV tuner and
AM/FM tuner. Standard features include a 250MHZ PowerPC 603 processor, a
2GB hard drive, 32MB of RAM, a Bose sound system and a custom keyboard with
detachable trackpad.
"We were looking to define a radically new solution in Industrial Design
when we began designing the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh," says Jonathan
Ive, Apple's senior director of Industrial Design. "Its smooth integration
of personal computer and consumer appliance are clear indications of the
future of technology design." Apple says it will offer a total of 12,000
units of the limited-edition Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh in five
countries: France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States.
U.S. customers will be able to purchase the system, which is scheduled to
ship in June, for approximately $7,500.
Cardinal Modem Brand to Continue
Cardinal Technologies Inc. today announced that Hayes Microcomputer
Products Inc. will keep the Cardinal brand active in the U.S. retail market
after purchasing the company. On March 13, Hayes announced that it had
reached an agreement with Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures Inc. to acquire
Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based
Cardinal.
"Hayes and Cardinal plan no immediate changes in the network of
distributors and resellers who carry Cardinal products and will keep the
current sales organization in place to support this business," says Frank
Leonardi, Cardinal's president and CEO. "Our commitment to our partners is
to maintain the same level of support to keep the business growing. This
transition also ensures that all Cardinal customers will receive continuing
technical support and warranty repairs as needed."
"The Cardinal brand represents value to the consumer by delivering high
speed modems at a competitive price," adds Dennis C. Hayes, chairman of
Hayes. "The equity and retail strength of the Cardinal brand name is the
reason that Hayes chose to add this line to our business." Further
information is available on Cardinal's Web site at www.cardtech.com.
Iomega Unveils ATAPI Zip Drive
Iomega Corp. has announced an enhanced internal Zip drive based on the
ATAPI interface. The Roy, Utah-based company notes that the 100MB unit
offers computer makers and others simple and affordable systems integration
and compatibility. The 3.5-inch device fits into a conventional PC drive
bay and connects to an internal power supply. "With the new ATAPI Zip
drive, Iomega is one step closer to replacing the traditional floppy drive
with the super- floppy Zip drive," says Andy Grolnick, Iomega's director of
Zip product management. "This makes the Zip drive an easier and more
affordable solution for VARs, system integrators and OEMs."
"Iomega's new ATAPI Zip drive coupled with BIOS support completes the
equation for standardization of the Zip drive," notes Phil Devin, vice
president and principal analyst of Dataquest Inc. "This is a significant
step forward in meeting the needs of computer system OEMs and system
integrators." The internal ATAPI Zip drive is expected to be availble
worldwide in the second quarter of this year through major distributors and
resellers. Pricing isn't yet set.
Motorola Delays Modem Delivery
Shipment of Motorola Inc.'s ModemSURFR and VoiceSURFR
56K-kilobits-per-second modems has been delayed, pending upgrades to the
modems' chipset produced by Rockwell Semiconductor Systems. Reporting from
Huntsville, Alabama, the Dow Jones news service says Rockwell is delaying
the volume ramp-up of its K56flex modem chipsets for two weeks because it
identified performance problems under certain network configurations.
Motorola officials say the problem is likely to affect less than 3,000
customers, since modem shipments began last week. The company said it will
replace, at its expense, any modems that have already been purchased and
are experiencing performance problems. The wire service reports, "Motorola
said it and Rockwell have identified algorithm improvements to enhance the
chipsets' performance, and therefore shipments of the modems could resume
'as early as two weeks.'"
Digital Offers Super-Fast Chip
A new version of the Alpha chip that can double the performance of today's
personal computers is being introduced by Digital Equipment Corp., posing
what some say will be a serious challenge to widely used Pentium chips from
Intel Corp. Digital officials told The Associated Press that PCs running
the new chip will start at less than $2,600, which is comparable to
Pentium-based machines.
"Digital is aiming its new microprocessor at corporate desktop PCs that run
on Microsoft's Windows NT operating system," AP observes. "Manufacturers
that plan to build PCs with the new chips beginning in July are Digital,
which already makes Intel-based PCs; Germany-based Vobis Microcomputer AG;
and Enorex Microsystems Inc., a New Jersey company started six months ago
in anticipation of the new Alpha chip."
The wire service notes Digital hopes that other makers will follow, "fueled
by an increasing availability of software," adding, "Currently, nearly
one-third of the roughly 6,000 software programs designed for Pentium-based
machines using the Windows NT operating system also can run on Alpha-based
PCs." Digital officials say other software can be run in "emulation"
programs, which allow the chip to run software not written for it but
reduces the program's speed. Pippa Jollie, marketing manager for the Alpha
21164PC microprocessor, says PCs built around the new chi would be
particularly useful running graphics-heavy programs.
HP to Unveil Photo System
A photographic system for PC users that can take, scan and print
photography-quality images is being introduced by computer maker
Hewlett-Packard Co. Writing for the Reuter News Service, reporter Samuel
Perry says HP's new PhotoSmart line is aimed at the consumer digital
photography, which some industry experts expect to heat up this year, but
that it won't come cheaply.
In fact, the photo printer, scanner and digital camera can be purchased
independently but together cost about $1,400, while new ink cartridges
will cost roughly $40 each. "And," adds Perry, "while any paper can be
used in the printer, for best results HP recommends its own glossy and
deluxe glossy photography paper, to be priced in the United States at up
to $1.10 a page for the finest quality."
HP cites figures from the Photo Marketing Association that estimated that
in 1995 some 710 million rolls of film were processed, or an estimated 2.5
billion pictures. Adds Reuters, "Although the quality of consumer market
digital cameras themselves is still well below that of conventional
photography, HP's scanning device enables PC users to scan, edit and print
images made with conventional photography as well." The photo products
work with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95 operating system and at least a
66-megahertz 486 processor, although Intel Corp.'s Pentium chips are
recommended.
Sun Releases Java to Industry Group
An industry-standards group has been asked by Sun Microsystems Inc. to take
control of Java, its popular network computing language. Writing in The
Wall Street Journal this morning, reporter Joan Indiana Rigdon notes Sun
has tried on its own to promote Java as a standard way of writing programs
for the Internet and other computer networks, "but in recent weeks,
Microsoft, maker of the rival Active X technology, has accused Sun of
rejiggering Java so it doesn't work well with Microsoft software. Sun has
denied Microsoft's complaints." The fracas "fizzled," Rigdon adds, when
Microsoft officials suggested Sun could resolve the complaint by handing
Java over to a group that regulates computing standards. (As reported,
Microsoft did as much last year, when it created an independent standards
group to oversee changes to Active X.)
"The particulars of these fights are mired in mind-numbing computing
details," adds Rigdon, "and the names of the industry groups read like
alphabet soup; the one Sun is working with is called the International
Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission
Joint Technical Committee 1, or IOS/IEC JTC 1 for short." Nonetheless, the
paper adds, the standards fights are important, "because they threaten a
much-anticipated future where the Internet looks the same to everyone."
Study: Commercial Web Sites Soar
Commercial World Wide Web Sites grew to more than 45,000 in 1996 and will
reach 100,000 by the year 2000, according to a new research study from
International Data Corp. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based market
researcher notes that the number of commercial sites on the Web is doubling
every six months and that the rapid expansion is the result of the
tremendous growth in the adoption of Internet and Web technologies by
businesses. Leading categories, according to IDC, include
technically-oriented businesses, information intensive products lines, and
time sensitive products such
as financial information. "In 1996, growth in commercial Web sites began
to take off as companies began experimenting with new kinds of sites --
ones that extended the business infrastructure to the consumer," says
Michael Sullivan Trainor, director of IDC's Internet program.
"Businesses began to move away from a 'brochureware' site to a dynamic,
page-generation, extended infrastructure site." But Sullivan-Trainor notes
that increasingly sophisticated Web sites have required significant
investment in programming and customization, causing the price of highly
functional commerce sites to rise to more than $1 million per
implementation. But packaged software products are rapidly bringing down
the price point to less than $30,000 for a highly functional site and less
that $5,000 for a low- function starter offering. IDC predicts that these
tools will help to fuel commercial web site growth as businesses look to
enhance their site capabilities.
Sales Brisk for Pentium MMX PCs
Intel's new MMX chip is meeting with strong initial market acceptance,
according to new research from Computer Intelligence, the leading source
of fact-based information about the computer and communicaions industries.
New data from CI's January StoreBoard Channel Tracking Service shows that
more than one-quarter of the desktop PCs sold in U.S. retail channels
during January were based on the MMX Pentium chip, the newest version of
Intel's flagship Pentium microprocessor. In the retail channels tracked by
StoreBoard, MMX-based desktop PCs accounted for 27 percent of the desktop
PCs sold in January. The systems had the highest share of desktop PC unit
sales in consumer electronics superstores, where they accounted for 38
percent desktops sold.
In the other two retail channels tracked by StoreBoard, office products
superstores and PC superstores, MMX desktops were a lower but still
substantial portion of sales at shares of 14 percent and 20 percent,
respectively. "We thought that some of the softness in consumer PC
channels during the fourth quarter of 96 was due to consumers delaying
purchases in anticipation of MMX PCs," says David Tremblay, senior industry
analyst at the La Jolla, California-based market researcher. "MMX-based PCs
were not available until the bodes well for a round of upgrade purchases by
consumers through the spring."
Some PC manufacturers, CI notes, were more aggressive in their launch of
MMX-based PCs than were others. Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett Packard
Co., Packard Bell and IBM Corp. accounted for over 90 percent of the
MMX-based desktop PCs sold in StoreBoard's U.S. retail channels in January.
CI's research shows that HP sold more MMX-based desktop PCs in January in
these channels than they did desktop PCs based on standard Pentium chips.
Samples of CI's market data and research results, commentary from industry
authorities and previews of upcoming technology events are available on the
company's site on the World Wide Web, http://www.ci.zd.com.
One in Four U.S. Adults Online
A new survey by CommerceNet/Nielsen Media Research estimates nearly one out
of every four adults in the United States and Canada is online and more
than 21 million women surf the once-male dominated Net.
Also, the poll indicates 50.6 million people are Internet users, more than
twice the number from a survey 18 months ago. Reporter Elizabeth Weise of
The Associated Press says the survey also finds:
z Some 23 percent of people surveyed used the Internet, compared to only
10 percent in fall 1995.
z Women, "who only five years ago made up a tiny 10 percent of the
online world, now are nearing parity with men. This year's survey, taken in
December and January, reported that 42 percent of online users are women,
up from 34 percent 18 months ago."
z And the number of people who search the Web for information about
products has doubled to 39 percent from 19 percent in the previous survey.
z However, only 15 percent of the users surveyed said they actually
bought anything online.
The CommerceNet/Nielsen Media Research survey was based on 6,600 telephone
interviews with people 16 years or older from randomly-selected households
in the United States and Canada. The margin of error was not released.
Execs Want Tech-Savvy Assistants
Executives expect high-level technical expertise from their administrative
staff, finds a new survey sponsored by OfficeTeam, a temporary office
worker staffing service.
According to the Menlo Park, California-based company, 74 percent of the
survey's respondents said it is "very important" for administrative
assistants to have advanced personal computer skills. In addition, when
asked which courses their support staff could benefit from most, nearly
half said computer-related classes. "With the unabated growth of
technological investments by companies today, it is critical that
administrative staff have in-depth knowledge of their firm's computer
software," says Diane Domeyer, OfficeTeam's executive director. "This means
more than simply keeping current on the latest version of a word processing
application. It involves being able to use all of the time-saving features
of that program and, if the company uses an office suite package, becoming
proficient on each of the applications in that suite."
Domeyer notes that while continuing education in computer technology is a
must in order to keep technical skills current, it doesn't necessarily
involve long-term, formalized classroom instruction. "There are a number
of options available, including computer-based tutorials that can be
completed on a personal computer at home and workshops offered through
professional associations and retail outlets."
PC Support Gets More Complex
The PC support market is becoming increasingly complex, posing new
challenges to PC vendors and other support providers, finds a new report
from International Data Corporation. The Framingham, Massachusetts based
market researcher notes that the support market's increased complexity
stems from a number of developments, includin rapid shifts in technology
and the advent of highly complex systems loaded with a variety of hardware
and software. In addition, the PC support marketplace now includes a
variety of players on both the supply and demand sides. According to the
IDC report, support suppliers include PC vendors, their channel partners,
independent service companies and even some retail outlets that offer
service plans to their customers. Customers for PC support include large
corporate organizations, small-office/home-office (SOHO) users and
consumers, finds the study.
"In the PC server space, IS managers are looking for mission-critical
services that are comparable with those previously associated with large
systems environments," says Doug Chandler, an IDC senior analyst. "At the
desktop level, PC support providers have become much more proactive
regarding delivering support and technical information with customers, as
well as providing drivers and software patches, either by dial-in or over
the Internet." Beyond the corporate environment, consumers are becoming a
more important segment of the market, and meeting consumers' support needs
is another major challenge for PC support providers, notes the report. IDC
believes that consumers, many of whom are first-time PC users, tend to
depend heavily on the PC vendor for answers to any question pertaining to
the PC, regardless of whether it pertains to hardware or software. "These
users are also less capable of troubleshooting their own problems,"
observes Chandler. "At the same time, the line between the home and
corporate user is blurring as business people bring work home on their
portable systems and also use their home computers for personal finance and
other important applications." IDC's Web site (www.idcresearch.com)
contains additional company information, recent news releases and full-text
searching of recent research.
A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N
LEXMARK OPTRA C
COLOR
LASER PRINTER
For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent to
you that demonstrates LEXMARK Optra C SUPERIOR QUALITY 600 dpi Laser Color
Output, please send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business
sized envelope please) to:
STReport's LEXMARK Printout Offer
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155
Folks, the LEXMARK Optra C has to be the very best yet in its price range.
It is far superior to anything we've seen or used as of yet. It is said
that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. The out put from the Lexmark
Optra C is worth ten thousand words! Send for the free sample now. (For a
sample that's suitable for framing, see below) Guaranteed. you will be
amazed at the superb quality. (Please.. allow at least a two week turn-
around).
If you would like a sample printout that's suitable for framing. Yes
that's right! Suitable for Framing. Order this package. It'll be on
special stock and be of superb quality. We obtained a mint copy of a 1927
COLOR ENGRAVER'S YEAR BOOK. Our Scanner is doing "double duty"! The
results will absolutely blow you away. If you want this high quality
sample package please include a check or money order in the amount of $6.95
(Costs only) Please, make checks or money orders payable to; Ralph Mariano.
Be sure to include your full return address and telephone number . The
sample will be sent to you protected, not folded in a 9x12 envelope. Don't
hesitate.. you will not be disappointed. This "stuff" is gorgeous!
A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N-A T T E N T I O N
Shareware Treasure Chest STR Feature "The Latest & Greatest"
Shareware Treasure Chest
By Lloyd E. Pulley
lepulley@streport.com
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Astronomy Slide Show!2.0 3/20/97 3010kb Freeware
Full Screen slide show of 19 beautiful astrophotos! Now includes Comet
Hale-Bopp!
Download Site - http://home.inreach.com/jayrob/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Easy Icons 32-bit 5.1.8 3/15/97 1.70mb Shareware
Easy Icons was designed as a complete Icon Management System for windows
users." For example some of the things you can do are Save any Icon as a
separate (.ico) file, Save any icon as a separate (.bmp) file, Create and
maintain icon libraries with simple drag and drop operations and much more.
Download Site - http://www.easyapps.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
EditPad 32-bit 2.2.1 3/15/97 23mb Freeware
EditPad is a replacement for the standard Windows NotePad. EditPad
requires Windows 95 or later to run. No additional DLLs or whatever are
required. It has a few very interesting features:
* EditPad can open as much files at a time as you want.
* You change between the open files by clicking on their tabs. No hassle
with heaps
of overlapping windows.
* If you run EditPad again when their is already an instance running, the
file(s) you
wish to edit will be opened by the existing EditPad window. This means
there will
be at most one EditPad window open, which will save you from a lot of
task switching.
Of course, if you do need more instances, simply pick View|New editor
from the menu.
* Block functions: save parts of your text to disk and insert a file in
the current text
* Reopen menu that lists the last 16 files opened and more.
Download Site - http://www.tornado.be/~johnfg/jgsoft.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
TextPad 3.0 Beta 1 3/16/97 949kb Shareware $27.00
TextPad is the most powerful and flexible text editor on the market.
Clean and uncluttered, the interface does not get in the way. Yet hiding
just a few mouse clicks away are powerful search and replace, macro
commands, and a highly customizable interface. When you need more than
notepad can offer, TextPad is the obvious next step.
Download Site - http://www.textpad.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Pixound 32-bit 1.1.1 plug-in 3/15/97 .07mb Freeware
A plug-in enabling the interpretation of graphic data as music and sound.
It can be used to create both on-line and off-line interactive
environments. As the viewer moves a pointer through a digital image,
Pixound translates pixel color information into music or sound, instantly
and continuously. It uses various color methods as well as other graphic
information within a picture to create music.
Download Site - http://www.pixound.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Quicktime 32-bit 1.1.1.0 plug-in 3/15/97 .85mb Freeware
Apple's QuickTime plug-in lets you view QuickTime movies and QuickTime VR
Panoramas and Objects directly in your browser window. The QuickTime plug-
in works with existing QuickTime movies, and with movies prepared to take
advantage of the plug-in's "fast-start" feature. The fast-start feature
will present the first frame of the movie almost immediately and can begin
playing even before the movie has been completely downloaded.
Download Site - http://quicktime.apple.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Online Meter 2.1 3/14/97 752kb Shareware
Online Meter 2.1 is the counter for your Dial-up Networking connections
with Windows 95. Starts counting as soon as you get connected. Tariff
definition is easy to do, including special support for holidays. You can
download prepared files with tariff definitions.
Download Site - http://www.kagi.com/mkrebs/meter/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
CPU Monitor 1.3b2 3/14/97 21kb Freeware
CPU Monitor adds an icon to the Windows 95 System Tray, which shows the
current utilisation of the systems processor.
Download Site - http://www.sthdown.demon.co.uk/users/jgrieve/cpumon/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Live Image 32-bit 1.21 3/16/97 1.90mb Shareware $29.95
LiveImage is a very user-friendly, "don't know anything about all this
image mapping stuff" program. LiveImage includes several new and powerful
features that are not available in other image mapping applications.
LiveImage supports GIFs, JPGs, Progressive JPGs, and the new PNG graphic
files. You may also optionally install additional graphic "filters" to
allow LiveImage to read other file formats.
Download Site - http://www.mediatec.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Stay Connected 32-bit 1.2 3/16/97 .87mb Shareware $19.95
Just as the name says, Stay connected will make sure that you never loose
your connection due to time outs, disconnections,etc. *** Good Stuff ***
Download Site - http://www.inklineglobal.com/stayconn.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Norton CrashGuard 1.2 3/16/97 1.6mg Freeware
Norton CrashGuard is a simple and reliable crash protection and recovery
program that can intercept and repair most crashes and "frozen"
applications long enough for you to save your work.
Download Site - http://www.symantec.com/crashguard/index.html
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
ZipWorks 32-bit 2.5 3/17/97 .57mb Shareware $21.95
ZipWorks is a full featured 32-Bit ZIP file manipulater for Windows 95.
The built-in 32-Bit compression is fully compatible with PKZIP v2.04. With
this program you can ZIP, UnZip, add comments to your ZIP files, test
archive integrity, and repair damaged ZIP files. This program can create
files across multiple disks, and can store directory structure, making it a
pretty fair choice for a backup utility.
Download Site - http://members.aol.com/ron2222/zip.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Enliven 32-bit 1.5 plug-in 3/17/97 .50mb Freeware
Narrative's Enliven Viewer brings multimedia animations, graphics and
sound right into your home or office over Internet connections of 14.4 Kbps
or faster. With the Enliven Viewer all you have to do is click on an
Enliven link from your Web browser and multimedia titles begin playing
without having to first wait for a download.
Download Site - http://www.narrative.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
TIFNY 32-bit 1.2 3/17/97 1.90mb Shareware $29.95
TIFNY is a radical Usenet viewer with fully automated downloading! It
showcases a slide-show of posted JPEG images, and catalogs your favorites
by user-defined search lists with filters to deny series, authors,
organizations or keywords in the subject header. Say goodbye to unwanted
spamming, offensive postings and their cross-postings and say hello to
UseNet news group images that are filtered by you and offer pictures you
deem relevant! TIFNY also records previously searched paths in an MS Access
database. You can navigate TIFNY through the UseNet newsgroups based on
your own preferences.
Download Site - http://pinck.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Gravity1.1 Beta 2 3/12/97 1.6mg Commercial Software
Anawave's Gravity, a 32-bit newsreader, is one of the top-rated Internet
newsreaders for Windows 95/NT. It allows a person to view and contribute
articles in the form of text and graphics to over 15,000 newsgroups
worldwide. Gravity is unique in that it was designed exclusively for the 32-
bit Windows 95/NT environment. This design feature provides excellent multi-
tasking capabilities for searching, sorting and completing most newsreading
tasks in the background. As a result, you get the information that you want
- blazingly fast.
Download Site - http://www.anawave.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Search and Replace for Windows 95 2.82 3/17/97 367kb Shareware
$20.00
Search (grep) program with Replace capabilities across files/directories.
Color coded output, regular expression support, search ZIP files, script
processing for many paths or search/replace strings at one time, backups,
full control over replaces.
Download Site - http://www.funduc.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Shutdown Butler 1.5 3/16/97 715kb Shareware $4.00
This program monitors Windows95 and ejects a CD-ROM on shutdown ONLY if
one is in the drive. Also provides a quick shutdown menu in the system
tray. Can also be configured to run a program at shutdown.
Download Site - http://www.skillsoft.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Meridian 59 for Win95 3/18/97 26.00mb Shareware
Meridian 59, the world's number one next generation Internet-based RPG,
is a 3D world filled with fierce creatures, awesome magic, and spine
tingling face-to-face encounters with thousands of other human adventurers.
Meet and converse with thousands of players on-line. Explore a richly
textured 3D world filled with ancient cities, sunlit forests, dark caverns
and mysterious temples. Do battle with fierce creatures and other players
in real time combat.
In this new version, the Vale of Sorrow expansion pack (now included in
Meridian 59) introduces the mysterious Faerie Forest, home of the noble
Elhai faeries and their rivals, the sinister Dirhai. Only by taking sides
in this magical war can players complete the quest to bond with the hidden
node of magical power.
Download Site - http://meridian.3do.com/meridian/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
TopDesk 32-bit 3.0b 3/18/97 .12mb Freeware
How often have you had one or more applications running that have
completely covered the desktop just when you needed to access some object,
e.g. the Recycle Bin or the Internet icon, that was hidden on the desktop?
Rather than continue enduring this frustration it's time you downloaded
TopDesk. TopDesk (for Windows 95/NT) adds an icon to the system area of the
task bar that gives you complete access to everything on the desktop -
system objects and files, including the display properties dialog.
Download Site - http://www.snadboy.com/index.shtml
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
SubSpace for Win95 1.23 3/18/97 2.20mb Freeware
A space type shoot 'em up with a difference. It's played entirely over
the internet with all human opponents. The game itself reminds you in a way
of the old Atari 2600 game Asteroids because the movement is basically the
same. However instead of being one one small screen and blowing up
asteroids, you are on a huge level and blow the crap out of other pilots.
By itself the game is pretty good (nice graphics), however when you add
real human players it really shines. At almost any given time you can find
around 50-60 other people playing, so the action is always hectic. You can
make squads, join teams, send messages while you play, and generally cause
havoc. This game is really worth the download, it's nifty. You can check
out some screen shots. Note:Requries Win95 and DirectX
Download Site - http://www.vie.com/subspace/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Mah Jong for Windows 95 1.0 3/18/97 237k Commercial Demo $21.25
Fully playable, playing-time limited, implementation of the popular
Chinese game of Mah Jong, for the Windows 95 platform. This is not a
solitaire pairs game - play genuine Mah Jong against 3 other players
controlled by the computer. Features many unique features, and fully
customisable rules allow for almost all variations. An ideal alternative to
PC card games when you want to take a break from work - or if you want to
hone up your skills with some extra practice before playing against
friends. And with a detailed step-by-step tutorial, even a newcomer can
quickly learn how to play. Apparently a very complex game to the outsider,
the rules are very quick to master, and the game rapidly becomes
surprisingly addictive.
Download Site - http://www.mimosil.co.uk/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Rolodex 1.0 3/18/97 21kb Freeware
Rolodex was created to keep phone numbers and addresses in order for
quick reference. This is just a basic Rolodex program, without the hassels
of many buttons or menu options. Requires Visual Basic runtime files. The
VB files can be downloaded from the Rolodex homepage.
Download Site - http://genius.rider.edu/~tudor/realindex.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Real Player 32-bit 4.0 beta 1a 3/20/97 1.00mb Freeware
From the makers of Real Audio comes Real Video, the only player you need
to get all the great RealAudio and the new RealVideo content on the web --
all without download delays. - Stereo audio at 28.8, near-CD quality at
higher bitrates, AM-quality audio at 14.4 - - Newscast-quality video at
28.8 and full-motion at higher bitrates -
Download Site - http://www.real.com/
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Szipw 32-bit 4.0a 3/20/97 1.60mb Shareware
Szipw is the Ultimate Zip file manager for Windows. It supports command
line parameters, Creates and manages backup sets for easy backup
operations, makes Zip archives with long filenames. View Zip files like
Disks with a directory tree, Internal Zip/Unzip. Easy configuration. Easy
edit of Zip comments and file comments. Accepts command line parameters
like PKZIP. Internal File viewer, updates zip file when contents changed.
Support Files and dirs dropped from windows file manager, Add files using a
list of path/wildcards, very usefull when files to compress are in
different locations. Recompression of archives using different
password.compression level. Spanned Disks (multiple diskettes),
Hidden/System files, Volume labels, full PKzip 2.0 Encryption
supported.Support for Self Extractable archives. Allow renaming, changing
file date/time, Moving to another dir (using drag/drop), of the files and
directories within the archive. Internal Zip repair functions.
Download Site - http://www.voicenet.com/~jank/astec/szipw.htm
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
SoulTrap 1.06 3/20/97 5.8mb Commercial demo
Prepare to face your greatest fears as Soultrap takes you into a deadly
nightmare world of intense terror and lethal surroundings. You'll step
inside the twisted dreams of Malcolm West, and face the fears that have
plagued him throughout his life. Let your mind free-fall into a series of
deranged, dream-like environments that are constantly moving and changing
in 3D space.
Download Site -
http://www.microforum.com/products/demos/Default.HTM#SoulTrap
Name/Version Release Date Size Price
Adr_Book 4.2 3/20/97 870kb Shareware $24.95
Adr_Book v4.2 is an address book database program and phone dialer for
Windows 95. This program prints a 1/4 size address booklet, labels,
envelopes, and several reports. Labels can be printed with Postal bar-code
in zipcode order to assist in bulk mailing. Database query capabilities
are supported. (ie list everyone who have a birthday in June).
Download Site - http://www.alaska.net/~mikeg/
Gaming Hotwire STR Feature - The World of Contemporary Gaming
TOMB RAIDER
Complete Walkthrough and (Most) Secrets for the PC version
by Lynn HendricksLike any walkthrough, this will be the most use to you if
you wait till you get stuck in a problem, then come here and look up the
solution to it. When it's possible, I'll put a hint before the actual
solution to a puzzle so you can read just enough to get you heading in the
right direction.
Some general notes on the game:
The main difference between the PC version and other versions of Tomb
Raider is the ability to save the game whenever you want to. In the other
versions you have to keep an eye out for "save game gems," and only then
may you save. For this reason, many of the puzzles are ones that can be
done over and over till you get them right. Me, I just reload a saved game
and start again . . .
It's a good idea to spend time in Lara's mansion to make sure you're
comfortable with all her moves before you start. In the mansion, run into
the music room, then into the main room; then clamber over the crates to
the left door into the gym. Go to each numbered ramp in turn and she'll
walk you through a bunch of different ways to jump. Then go into the pool
room to mess about under water. (If you're in the mood, you can stay under
till you drown just to watch Lara writhe; but since you'll most likely get
to see this happen in action more than enough times to suit you, why
bother?)
It takes some time to get the hang of navigating via the arrow keys
rather than the mouse. I tended to keep my left hand with the index finger
on the Fire (Ctrl) button, middle finger on the Walk (Shift) button,
little finger on the Jump (Alt) button, and palm on the Weapon (Spacebar)
button, with my right hand to work the direction keys and the Look (Keypad
Insert) button. This isn't infallible, but it seems to keep
everything available.
You can remap most of the keys, but not the direction keys. This is
fine most of the time, but underwater the up and down keys seem to work
like a flight simulator (that is, up makes you go down and down makes you
go up). Maddening, especially when you're dying from lack of air and
there's a crocodile after you. Practice will help you perfect this, but you
can expect to get turned around under water for a while.
The over-her-shoulder view can be crazy-making on occasion (such as
when she's running around a corner that might have monsters). Don't forget
about the Look button, especially when you enter a large room or are
trying to leap to a small, distant ledge.
For a bit of fun, hold down the Walk button when Lara is hoisting
herself up a block over her head. You can also get a spectacular swan dive
by holding down Walk-Jump-Forward when she's going into water. Also, a
damaging fall can sometimes be made less so by putting a roll (the End key)
at the end of it.
You'll notice that if you forget to let go of the Jump key when Lara
lands she'll instantly jump again. Sometimes this is no big deal, but
sometimes it's death, such as when you're jumping onto a small platform or
a slanted surface above something deadly like lava. You can use this to
your advantage on occasion, though, if you notice that a slanted surface
sends her jumping in the direction of the slant.
There are basically three kinds of switches: large bars in the wall
that you push up or down; pressure plates that you activate by walking or
pushing a block over; and levers under water that you pull down. When you
see a bar switch under water, don't bother with it. It can't be used unless
it's above water -- which is a signal to you that there's a way to drain
the water out of the room.
I'll go into more detail on how to perform a particular maneuver (such
as safely dropping down a long way) the first time it's done. After that,
I'll use shorthand (like "Do a safety drop") and assume you remember how
to do it.
Some of the secrets are worth working for, but many of them are just
hard-to-get-to cubby holes with a medipack or some ammo in them. Go for
them if you want, but don't endanger yourself for a few shotgun shells.
You'll know when you've found a secret room because you'll hear a harp run.
In some rare cases I'll prompt you to save your game, such as places
where there's a surprising danger. More often, it's up to you to know how
much of what you've just done you'd like to repeat if you slip off the
next ledge and fall to your death.
PERU (Caves, City of Vilcabamba, Lost Valley, Tomb of Qualopec)
CAVES
Notice the wolf tracks in the snow, and take a moment to wonder what
Lara is doing high in the frozen Andes in shorts and tank top. Follow the
tracks past the pipes shooting darts; if you run most of the darts will
miss you, or you can walk up to them, watch the timing, and run past when
it's safe. Continue around the corner. Lara will look up at a ledge on her
left, indicating the way to go; but first continue ahead into a large
square room with a chamber in the left back corner above a bit of slanted
rock. Go around behind the slanted rock and climb up; you'll immediately
slide down the other side, and if you jump at the bottom of the slide
ou'll be able to grab the ledge and climb up into the chamber. Behold,
z SECRET #1! Pick up the medipack (i.e., stand almost on top of it and
press Action). There are two kinds of medipacks, small and large; the
small ones are khaki rolls with a Red Cross on them, the large are khaki
backpacks with a Red Cross. You'll soon get very good at spotting them.
Returning to the other cave, climb up and head down the passage. If
you listen carefully, you'll soon hear a leathery flapping and perhaps a
high-pitched squeak or two; it's bats, very large carnivorous bats. Your
first enemies! Draw your guns (by pushing the spacebar) and wait for Lara
to point them, then hold down the Fire button (Ctrl) until she stops
turning around. If the bats get on your head and start to attack she can't
shoot them, so run or jump forward, then turn around and blast the little
creeps. There's three of them here, so keep your guns drawn till they're
all toast. Bats die easily and don't do much damage (though they
can kill you if you don't get rid of them), so these guys are good practice
for what's to come. (BTW, the pistols have unlimited ammo, so don't worry
about using them up. The indicator that shows when you draw your guns is
your health, not your ammo. The more powerful weapons that you pick up
later need to be reloaded -- but more on that when we get there.)
Turn left and proceed to a cave with snow drifted into one corner. Climb
the drift as far as you can, then use the Action key to grab the ledge and
pull yourself up. Shoot another bat and grab the medipack for
z SECRET #2. Return to the bat cave and continue, turning left twice.
You will eventually end up in alarge grassy cavern sloping down to the
left. Make your way to the bottom and drop into the tunnel. Go down the
stairs and use the bar switch to open the door. (To use the switch,
position Lara smack up against it and push the Action (Ctrl) button. If
nothing happens, try shuffling right or left till she's right in front of
it and try again.)
Draw your guns as you enter the next room (a good practice till you
scope out the threats in a new location), and kill a bat. Wander around
and look at the bamboo door. No, you can't open it, jump over it, crawl
under it, or pull it down, though of course in real life that's exactly
what you'd do. Whenever you come across an obvious door that you can't
open, it means there's a switch, a puzzle, or another way in. Okay, fine;
be like that. (And don't ask me how they got bamboo in Peru, or how it's
lasted through the centuries. It's just One of Those Things.)
In the far left corner, there's a pile of blocks up against a wall.
Clamber up it and then scale the wall by holding down Action and Forward.
(Nice of them to make her grunt with the effort once in a while.) Make
your way to a large room with two rope bridges; if you were walking instead
of running, you can now draw your guns and shoot the two wolves from
above. (If you were running and fell into the room, you can still kill
them, but now they can kill you too -- so you have to be a lot faster and
better with your pistols to do unto them before they do unto you.) When
they're both dead, turn left, jump across the gap, then walk over the
second bridge; on the other side, turn left and go through the door.
Stop at the edge of the chasm here and notice the large brown bear
below. Sorry, Smokey; you're history. When he's dead, put your guns away,
turn your back on the chasm, hold down Action, and take a step backwards.
This will allow you to drop down and grab the ledge, then let yourself drop
gently the rest of the way. This is a safety drop, and it will let you
fall quite a way with no damage.
Go through the door you see and shoot two bats. Grab the medipack and
walk over the pressure plate to open another door that takes you back to
the room with the two rope bridges. Climb back up the bridge and retrace
your path back to the gap with the dead bear. Jump across this time and
proceed down the stairs, stopping to pick up a medipack on the left before
you do so.
Enter the next room and shoot two wolves (gee, you're getting pretty
good at this). Notice on the left wall there is a door cleverly hidden
high up in the vegetation, with a ledge extending from it. Climb up the
blocks on the right of the door and do a hanging jump to the ledge, and
you've found
z SECRET #3 (a large medipack). Pick it up and do a safety drop back
into the large room. The way out of this room is a door on a timed switch.
Notice the two platforms on the other side of the room, with a door on the
left one and a switch on the right one. Climb up to the switch, throw it,
then turn left and run and jump and climb to get to the door before it
closes. (This may take several tries until you get the hang of navigating
with the arrow keys, but keep at it. Running into a wall stops you dead;
running into a wall while holding Action will make you climb up it if you
can.) Continue up and turn the corner. Run past two dart-shooting pipes
and into the next room. A single wolf is waiting for you, so draw your guns
and go in blazing.
In the center of this room, you'll notice two floor panels that look
funny, with odd striations across them. These are broken floor tiles
(you'll see them again, be sure), and though you can run across them
safely, if you stand on one it'll break and you'll fall into the chamber
below. In this case, that's what you want; so stand on either one to fall
through to a block in the room below.
Jump down and walk through the pillars to look at a large grey canal-
type hallway with a door at one end. Don't go down there; it's filled with
darts, and you can't open the door without throwing a switch on the other
side of the hall. Turn right and go down to the other end of the hall,
where you'll see that we're now on the other side of the bamboo door we
couldn't open before! Amazing.
Run and jump across to the other side of the hall, where you can shoot
the last wolf on this level and pick up the medipack. Continue on and
around the corner to find a switch. Move it to open the door, then slide
down the sloped wall next to the door and EXIT this level.
Pickups: 7
Secrets: 3
Kills: 14
CITY OF VILCABAMBA
Go into the first room and kill the four wolves lurking in here,
jumping around to avoid their attacks and firing constantly. There are
several doors leading out of this room; they form a sort of honeycomb of
passages and tunnels, all with wolves and bats lurking around the next
corner. If you're in the mood to kill things you can traverse them all,
slaughtering things. No matter which one you take, eventually you'll end up
in a large room with a pool in the middle and a wooden trough against the
far wall. (If you want to get there quickly, take the first hall on the
left and make the first right.) Take a moment to admire the beautifully
rendered water, then draw your guns and walk over to the trough, and a
large bear comes charging out, yow! Jump and shoot until he's dead, then
enter the room he came out of (a stable). Vault onto the ledge above the
stable and get the medipack.
Now return to the pool room and go for a swim. Swim down to the T-
intersection and turn right. When you reach a room with pillars, go to
the left side and pull a wooden lever (swim up till your nose touches it,
then push the Action button) to open a secret door in another area. If you
have at least half your air left, there's a secret here to be gotten. Swim
to the opposite corner of the pillar room into the brightly lit area. Pull
another lever switch to open a hatch above you and surface. Get out of the
pool (by swimming to the ledge and pushing Action and Forward) and get
z SECRET #1, a medipack. Pull the switch to open a door back into the
bear room.
Jump into the pool again, and this time turn left at the T-junction.
This takes you to a room with serpent fountains, and surprise! here's the
secret door you opened earlier. Enter to get
z SECRET #2, a medipack and some magnum clips (small black boxes that
look like video cassettes, ammo for a weapon you don't have yet). Dive
back in and return to the bear room.
At one corner of this room is a switch; flip it to open the door next
to it to a room with hides drying on racks. Climb the wooden stairs to an
opening high in the wall, and jump across to the room at the other side.
Notice the floor here is all cracked tiles. To get into the skull alcove
across, run across the tiles and jump at the end to get a medipack.
Drop into the room below (if you didn't land there by accident) and
find the large blue block in the wall with two marks in it that look like
bits of rope. These indicate that it moves. Run up against it, then hold
Action until Lara goes into a sort of tense crouch and push Forward to make
Lara push the block forward once. (She can also pull it back by pushing
Action and Back.) Push it forward several times to open a passage into
another room. (If you missed the jump at the end of the broken tiles and
really want that medipack in the alcove above, pull the block into the
room and use it to climb into the alcove.)
In the next room, shoot a bat and walk around to the left to get a
Silver Key and to the right to get a Golden Idol. Jump up onto the block
you pushed in and climb up to the wooden ledge above you. Shoot two bats
in the rafters; run around the corner and shoot two more bats, nasty
parasitic lice-ridden creatures. Drop into the passage and turn left. You
should now be back in the bear room.
Turn left and go down a hall to find a locked door (shooting any bats
that show up along the way). Stand right in front of the lock, the little
silver box to the right of the door, and press Action to bring up your
inventory. Rotate till the Silver Key is showing, then press Action to use
it. (If you try to use something that doesn't work, Lara says bluntly,
"No." Then you cuss and stomp and go looking for something else.)
Run through a dart-lined hall to reach a large open rocky area with a
red-roofed temple at the far end and five wolves with bad attitudes at
this end. Jump and shoot, as before, and keep track of the number you've
killed; if you're one short, walk forward slowly till the next one jumps
out at you.
Enter the temple through the left door (the only one open). Follow
the passage into a pool room with ledges on the walls. Climb the stairs
and being the jumping process to go from ledge to ledge. (Ignore the pool;
it's just a courtesy to soften your fall if you miss a jump. Don't look for
kindnesses like this often, though.) You'll have to shoot a bat or two
along the way. At the top, climb a flight of stairs, shoot a bat, and
throw a switch to open the temple's right door. Get the medipack, then walk
out the other door. Look down to see some shotgun shells (a box with some
red cylinders next to it, another weapon you don't have yet). Do a safety
drop down and get the shells, then drop to the red roof and get a medipack.
Drop once more to the ground and enter the right door. This is another
room with water and ledges, but this one has collapsing floor tiles.
Ignore the right side; go to the left and jump up the ledges to the top.
Shoot a bat, climb the stairs, and use the switch to open the middle door
of the temple. Go outside and do a series of safety drops to the ground.
Enter the middle door. A tunnel with a series of swinging blades (like
in Poe's story, "The Pit and the Pendulum") is next. Timing is almost all
there is to this, except that it's hard to know just how close you are to
the things until you've been sliced. Eventually you'll reach a room with a
gate with a bear behind it (and no, you can't shoot the bear through the
gate, don't ask why) and a switch. Throw the switch -- whoa, the floor
drops out from under you! Well, I guess we'll go for a swim, then.
Swim forward and up to surface in the pool where the bear is growling
at you. Hmm, can't shoot from the water and don't want to deal with him
just yet. Go down again and find a small tunnel just below the surface
that leads to an unoccupied room. Surface and climb up the stairs to a
room with a switch. Flip it and walk to the edge to look down at and shoot
the bear you were just threatened by.
Do a safety drop to the level below and face the locked door. Turn
left and walk up some stairs to a switch (that shuts off the swinging
blades), then turn around and follow a passage that leads to
z SECRET #3 and some Uzi clips (long grey bars -- and yes, it's another
weapon you don't have yet). Return to the pool room, use the Gold Idol on
the lock next to the door, and go out the EXIT.
Pickups: 11
Secrets: 3
Kills: 29
LOST VALLEY
Walk down the tunnel till you reach a cave with a river running
through it. You can jump in and go for a short but thrilling ride over
some falls and into a deep pool, but it's a better idea to jump across the
river and climb down the rocks so you can shoot the two wolves who are
waiting by the pool from above. Either way, when the wolves are dead,
stand with your back to the falls and climb up to a cave with another wolf
in it. Shoot him and continue to a passage with white cliffs in front of
you and a cavern to the right. There are three wolves to kill in the right
chamber, but nothing else, so shoot them if you're feeling bloodthirsty and
ignore them if you're not.
Now back to the white cliffs. Climb up the one outcropping you can scale,
then jump/climb up till you come across a skeleton and a medipack. Take
the latter, then draw your guns and move forward and down cautiously. When
you hit the ground, you'll hear a strange animal squealing, and whoops!
It's a bright red raptor, and it's not in a good mood. Jump and shoot till
it dies, then walk into the valley and shoot a second raptor. They're
startling, but not hard to kill.
Now. Max out your health if it isn't 100% and save your game, then walk
cautiously into the valley until you can see a broken rope bridge above
you and a massive bloody great T-Rex thundering toward you. Scream
judiciously and start firing and jumping backward nonstop. Keep on the run,
and don't let this bugger get close! unless you really like the idea of
becoming a coprolith. Keep an eye on your health bar and remember that you
can heal yourself mid-fight if you have to. To do this, press Escape to
bring up the inventory and freeze the action, use a medipack, and return
to the fight with a sigh of contentment from Lara.
When he's dead and your heart has slowed to a workable rate, walk on into
the valley under the bridge and past a single waterfall, to an area with
two waterfalls. Climb the ledge to the right of the right waterfall to
find
z SECRET #1, shotgun shells. Go to the ledge between the falls. Climb up
two ledges and jump to the right onto the third ledge. Look up and notice a
wedge-shaped crevice in the rock; jump and grab it, then shuffle to the
right until you're in the middle of the falls. Pull yourself up and walk on
water to reach
z SECRET #2, shotgun shells and Uzi clips. (Secret #2.5 is how you
managed to walk on the top of the waterfall. Don't ask.)
Return to the top of the falls and look down to see that there's a
deep pool at the bottom. Jump down and swim through the tunnel to a pool
inside a cave -- with a raptor squealing around there somewhere. Climb out
when he's out of the room and kill him, then climb the ledges to the right
of the falls up to a brick ledge, where you can pick up Machine Cog #1 (a
pale grey gear about a virtual foot across). Climb down and follow the
passage out to the valley, to a spot between the two waterfalls.
Turn left and walk till you see a natural rock bridge on the right and
a temple in the background -- oh, and two raptors charging at you. Knock
them out (they're the last predators on this level) and enter the temple to
find a fountain. Jump into the pool and dive down to the right side of the
pool, where there's a tunnel with machine Cog #2 at the bottom. Pick it
up and return to the surface.
Leave the temple and move to the left wall of the valley before the
natural bridge, where there's all sorts of cliffs and ledges. Explore till
you find one you can climb. Climb the first ledge, then jump left to a
second ledge. Turn left to do a jump and grab to a third ledge, then do a
leap and grab to a fourth ledge. Do a running jump onto the temple roof
for
z SECRET #3, and pick up a medipack, magnum clips, Uzi clips, and
shotgun shells. Enjoy the view, then get back down by going to the other
side of the roof and dropping to slide to the valley floor.
Turn to the right and climb into a cave in the valley wall. Follow
the tunnel until you reach one side of the broken rope bridge. Get several
jumps back from the edge, then do a long running jump and grab the other
side of the bridge (which is held in midair by the suspension of disbelief,
apparently). This may take several tries; that over-the-shoulder view is
cool, but makes it difficult to see when she's reached the very edge of the
bridge, and a jump too soon or too late ain't good enough. When you get
there, pull yourself up and continue over to get Machine Cog #3. Do a
safety drop from the cliff edge to slide to the valley floor.
Turn right and make your way back to the cave above the first huge
waterfall (where you started this level). When you get there, move as far
in as you can and jump across the river. Move to your right and jump to the
ledge you can see on the other side. Keep on moving upstream in this
fashion. If you miss, you'll fall in the river and zip over the waterfall
and have to make your way back again; it doesn't hurt, but it's time
consuming and frustrating, so you might want to save every time you make a
jump safely, unless your tolerance for frustration is higher than mine.
The last jump (which requires you to grab the edge and pull yourself
up) leads to a tunnel and across a rope bridge. There you'll find a
switch, some gears in the wall, and three unused pegs. Put the Cogs on the
pegs (doesn't matter which one goes where), then pull the switch. Well, the
gears moved, but what happened? Turn around and go look at the river --
look, a door moved to change the passage of the river. Cool!
Don't cross the bridge; rather, move to the upstream side of the
ledge, turn around, step backward, and grab on to the edge. Shuffle left
and drop onto another section of walkable water. Go up and turn left to
reach
z SECRET #4, a medipack. Jump in the water and swim until you reach the
dam. Turn left and pullyourself up onto the right ledge, where you'll find
a skeleton with a shotgun he no longer needs.
(The shotgun is more powerful than the pistols, but it doesn't have much
range or accuracy and it takes a while to reload. Very effective against
some creatures, however.) Jump back in the water and continue down the
river to enter a tunnel. This is a very long and twisting tunnel, but
eventually it comes out at
z SECRET #5 with shotgun shells and a medipack. The door from this
room feeds out onto the dry riverbed. Drop down and walk left to a grey
wall that used to be a waterfall. Jump over it into the lake below,
surface, and turn to see a tunnel that was hidden by the waterfall. Climb
out here, walk down the tunnel, open the door at the end, and EXIT!
Pickups: 16
Secrets: 5
Kills: 12
TOMB OF QUALOPEC
Follow the tunnel and enter a large red anteroom with four exits --
the one you came in by, one at the left with three gates, one in front of
you with a long tunnel, and one at the right with a closed door. Walk up
the tunnel in front of you till you see (and hear) a boulder start to roll
towards you a la Indiana Jones, then turn and run down and out of its way.
(If you have trouble getting turned around in time, try walking backwards
up the tunnel till you hear the boulder start to roll, then run down and
away.) When it's gone, walk up the tunnel to a locked gate to get your
first glimpse at the Tomb of Qualopec and the first piece of the Scion (the
thing Jacqueline Natla sent you to get, which incidentally they pronounce
SKEE-on, not SIGH- on as it usually is).
Return to the anteroom and pull the switch next to the main door (it
was on the right as you came in) to open the door to the left. This frees
two raptors that you can shoot with pistol or shotgun. (The shotgun takes
only one shot to slay a raptor, which is very satisfying.) Walk into the
room they came out of, which has vaguely animal pictures over the doors
(bird on the left, frog straight ahead, and a sort of a hawk thing on the
right). Go through the hawk door on your right and into the next room,
which has a small block with a hawk on it and a movable block in the wall.
There's no room to pull it, so push it twice to expose another movable
block. Push it once to let you into a room with broken floor tiles. Run
across them to a switch that opens the first of three gates in the
antechamber. Jump back across the spike pit you just revealed and go back
to the room with the pictures.
Go to the frog door on your right and follow the passage to a room
with several alcoves and a switch. Draw your guns and walk up to the
switch -- whoops! Down we go again, this time into a room with three
hungry wolves. Cack 'em, and forget about the switch; it was just a decoy.
Walk up one of the ramps and pull the block into the room, then push it
aside to find a passage. Enter and go up some steps, then drop into a pit
and get a medipack. Climb up the opposite side of the pit, then go up the
stairs and pull the switch to open Gate #2. Grab the medipack in the
corner, then drop back into the pit. The other door takes you back to the
room with the pictures.
Go through the bird door. You'll see a switch and a room with spikes
and two bird blocks. Ignore the switch for now and go into the room. Turn
left and go in a door that takes you up some stairs and onto bird block 1.
Turn right and see a tunnel over your head; jump and grab. Follow this
passage up and down till you find yourself standing on bird block 2. Turn
right and jump into a tunnel and pull the switch to move bird block 1
closer to the spikes. Walk back the way you came and discover a new passage
(you heard it open earlier) to the first switch that I told you to ignore.
Push it now, and bird block 2 moves toward bird block 1. Aren't you clever?
Return to the ledge and jump to bird block 2, then to bird block 1,
then to the door over the spikes. Pull the switch in this room to open the
final gate. Walk back and jump over the spikes, then go up the small ramp
and climb up to the door. Move down the right passage and waste the raptor
before he gets you.
Return to the anteroom and enter the now open passage. There are three
dart guns here; you can either run and jump, or you can walk up till the
darts start to fire, then time your movement to go between them. At the
end of the passage is a stairway with one more dart gun. Stand just on the
other side of the dart gun and face the wall, then jump and climb up into
the alcove with the statue. Skinny behind him and find
z SECRET #1. Run across the broken floor panels to the left corner and
get the shotgun shells, then turn around and do a safety drop (carefully!)
between the spikes to pick up some magnum clips under the shelf you were
just on
z (SECRET #2). Walk carefully through the spikes (though you may sustain
some damage anyway) to the door above and climb up and out.
Turn left and go up the stairs. Drop down to some steps and go up to
the Tomb of Qualopec. The guard on Qualopec's right isn't as dead as he
looks, so re-kill him and take the Scion piece. Yikes, a temblor! Run back
to the anteroom and out through the tunnel you came in by, dodging falling
masonry and passing the boulder on the way.
Save your game, then dive back into the lake where you started the
last level. Hey, I've got plenty of air; why did my health bar just come
up? Well, guess what, sugar pie? You're under fire! Stay underwater for
now, though; swim to the bottom and find a small tunnel in the wall under
the tunnel to Qualopec. Follow it to
z SECRET #3 and get the medipack and magnum clips. Now swim back up and
out to the opposite edge as fast as you can, then get out, draw your guns,
turn around, and jump and fire.
Larson, the jerk from the hotel in Calcutta, is trying to kill you. When
he's taken enough punishment to fell a rhino, he falls to the ground and
you can have a little chat about, you know, things.
Pickups: 7
Secrets: 3
Kills: 8
Cut Scene: Larson talks; Lara demonstrates a new and stupid way to use an
elevator
THE MONASTERY (St. Francis' Folly, Colosseum, Palace Midas,
Cistern, Tomb of Tihocan)
ST. FRANCIS' FOLLY
Start this level by killing two lions charging at you from the end of
this large room; turn and jump onto a ledge at right or left if you have
trouble. In the middle right side of the room is a block in a trench with
an omega (looks like an upside-down horseshoe) in it. Pull the block on top
of the symbol to unlock a door above and behind you. Push the block
forward twice to open a door at ground level, then push the block one more
time so you can climb on it later.
Go through the door at the end of the room (it slams behind you as you
enter). Shoot two gorillas and pull the switch across from the door. Go to
the stairs on your right and kill another gorilla; go up the stairs on
your left and throw a switch to open another door. Go outside and -- ping!
It's that litterbug, Pierre, shooting at you from behind a pillar like
the coward he is. Shoot at him, then run after him and shoot him some
more; eventually he disappears (for now).
Jump up on the omega block, then jump to the column in front of you,
then to the tall column in front of you to get a medipack. Turn around and
jump to a column on your right and then to a ledge. This room has two
slopes and a ledge over your head that contains one of the secrets; it's
hard to get to, but quite rewarding, so read through this and then give it
a try.
Stand just inside the door and face left to look at the first slope.
What you're going to do is jump against this slope, which will send you
jumping back to the second slope, which will send you jumping up, and then
if you got the placement right you can grab on to the shelf overhead and
pull yourself up. Ready? Jump forward and hold down the Jump button; jump
back; jump sideways, and grab and pull yourself up. Gah, another two
slopes. Do the same double jump up to
z SECRET #1, shotgun shells and a medipack on a broken floor.
Congratulations! Now climb back down to avoid damage taken by falling
through the broken floor.
Back at the ledge into the main room, jump to the column, then jump
via columns to the arch over the gorilla room. Walk to the left side, then
jump to a ledge against the far wall. Travel via these ledges to the door
at the other end of the room that you unlocked before. Walk in to find a
long downward slope. Slide down -- and just before you reach the end of
the slope, jump into the air. You'll land on a small ledge below the
slope, jump off it, and bounce toward a doorway opposite; quick, grab the
edge and pull yourself up to
z SECRET #2, shotgun shells and a medipack.Don't drop down the hole you
see; there's another secret to get first.
Turn around and notice a big crocodile in the water. Shoot him if you
can; if he swims out of the way before you get a chance to send him where
the dead crabs go, jump in and swim forward and up into the first opening
to get
z SECRET #3, more shotgun shells. Take another swim and go to the next
opening, where you can pull a switch that drains the water from this
passage.
Drop into the passage and kill the crocodile (if you didn't already). He's
easier to shoot now, but he's also a lot faster, so blast away and dodge a
lot. (Notice, BTW, that just before he dies he rolls and writhes. Saves
ammo if you notice this and don't waste your time blasting away at a dead
croc.)
Walk to the end of the tunnel and up some stairs. Look down, then gulp
and save your game. This huge chamber consists of a very tall room with a
central multi-leveled platform with four switches that open four doors
named after mythical characters on the outside walls at various levels. At
the very bottom is a room with four locks, opened by the four keys kept in
the four rooms. You're going to spend the next chunk of time finding and
flipping the four switches, then entering the four rooms and getting the
keys, then make your way down to the floor to open the door -- and along
the way, there's bats, the occasional lion, and Pierre to keep you from
getting bored. So take a deep breath and let's begin.
Jump to the ledge in the middle of the room and shoot three bats
flying around. (Be careful how you jump to get away from them; it's a long
way down.) Walk around the ledge and drop to the floor below. Pull the
lever to open the Thor Door. To the right you see a grey square; it's a
pressure plate that opens a secret door on the ground waaaaaay down there.
This door is timed, so if you want to get it you have to be FAST!
So. Jump onto the pressure plate, then turn right and run off the
edge. Roll (i.e., hit the End key) as you land and keep running. Roll at
the edge and drop down, shooting two bats as they appear. Drop down once
more, taking some minor damage, and run through the door in the dark corner
of the room. Whew!
SECRET #4 consists of a medipack and some magnum clips; was it worth it?
Exit the room and use the switch at this level to open the Atlas Door.
Climb the stairs, then jump and grab the center ledge. Jump to the ledge
and get the magnum clips either before or after killing another bat. Jump
back to the first ledge and move across about half way. Jump and grab the
middle ledge, then go around the left corner and use the switch to open
the Neptune Door. Turn around and jump across to the stairs. Turn around
and jump up to the center ledge, then enter the Thor Door to your left.
Okay, Thor is the god who makes lightning with his hammer, right? So
inside here we have first of all a lightning room. In the ceiling is a
sphere that shoots out lightning bolts to a series of panels in the floor,
set in a vaguely circular pattern. You're safe as long as you stay outside
this circle; inside it, all bets are off. So walk cautiously into the room
until the light show starts, then edge your way to the right and walk along
the wall till you're in front of the last panel; then wait for a bolt and
jump just after it and run into the next room.
Look up. This room is for Thor's hammer. Just under the hammer is a
panel in the floor. Walk up to this panel and across it to trigger it,
then keep on walking and you'll clear it just as the hammer hits. (If you
run you don't trigger the hammer; if you stand you get squished rather
completely.) Stand there a second
or two while a block falls from God knows where into the room. Push the
block up against the wall near the head of Thor's hammer. Use it to climb
up to a ledge with a second block; jump over this block and push it over
so you can use it to jump up to the next higher ledge. Get the small
medipack, then jump across to the ledge on your left. Enter the small room
and get the Thor Key, then do a safety drop to the ground. Run through the
electric room and back out to the main room.
Walk out, then draw your guns and jump back -- Pierre is shooting at
you again, this time from the ground. Jump up to the center and drop down
to the next level, then get a bead on him and fire at him till he runs
away again. Shoot some bats, then jump to an outside ledge, then up to the
previous ledge. Go up the stairs and turn to your right to find the switch
for the Damocles Door. Go down the stairs and enter the Atlas Door.
Kill the gorilla waiting for you in here, then run ahead and through
the gate (which promptly slams behind you). There's a pit to your left
with a picture of a boulder and a medipack, and to your right is a slope
with . . . a boulder at the top of it. (Where have I seen this picture
before?) As before, the best way to deal with this is to walk backwards up
the ramp till you hear the boulder start to roll, then run forward into
the pit and jump back against the wall so the boulder can bounce over your
head. Ha! Get the medipack, climb out of the pit, and walk up the ramp
until you see a ledge on your left. Jump up to it and get the Atlas Key on
the other side of the ledge. Make your way back and exit the Atlas Door.
Go to the highest step and jump up and climb to the next level. Jump
to the stairs on your left. Shoot some bats and go to the highest step.
Jump to the middle ledge and go to the other side and enter the Neptune
Door to find a very deep pool. Save your game and jump in, swimming down a
very long way to a tunnel with a door at the end and an opening overhead.
Go up into the opening to find a lever switch and pull it to open the door
you saw below. Go back down and into the door to get the Neptune Key, then
swim like hell for the surface. I got badly turned around in here the
first time I did it and finally had to do it in two shifts -- down to pull
the switch, then back for air, then down to get the key, then back to the
surface. If your dexterity is better than mine you can probably do it one
go, though.
Climb out of the water and exit through the Neptune Door. Jump to the
middle ledge and climb down to the ledge across from the sandstone stairs,
one level above the ground. Wait a minute, did I hear a growl? Yes,
there's a couple of lions down there; shoot them now to save trouble later,
then jump over to the stairs and go down to the Damocles Door. Get the
medipack on top of the door before you enter.
Here we have a large room crammed full of whole and broken pillars,
and with (gulp) massive swords overhead. But they're no threat to you --
yet. Go to the end of the room and get the Damocles Key, then hoist
yourself up and get the shells and medipack on the ledge above. Now walk
carefully out. The swords will start falling, and they seem to aim for
you; but if you walk and avoid the shadows you will probably not get
skewered. Probably.
Exit the Damocles Door. Drop down to the ground and keep an eye out
for Pierre, in case you didn't drive him away before. Go to the door and
use the four keys in the four locks; starting with the one closest to the
door, they are Neptune, Atlas, Damocles, and Thor. The bars pull back and
you can EXIT this huge level. Finally!
Pickups: 18
Secrets: 4
Kills: 21
COLOSSEUM
Ah, a pool. With a crocodile in it. Shoot the lizard, then jump in and
swim to the other side of the pool. Pop out and shoot two lions, one that
charges you and one that's around the back at the left. Enter the temple
and start up the left stairs, then jump back and kill a third lion. There's
nothing else to do in here, so go back outside and go around the left
side. Climb up the rocky ledge on the left and jump over to the second
floor ledge around the temple. Follow the ledge around to get a medipack.
Return the way you came and climb onto the block to get up to the third
floor ledge. Follow it around the temple and jump diagonally to a ledge in
the rocks that leads to a door you can almost see.
Before dropping down to the door, however, slide down the slope that
faces the door and jump when you reach the bottom to land on a small
ledge. Look to the left of the water for a hidden passage. Do a running
jump into the passage and get
z SECRET #1, shotgun shells. Make your way back to the door and go in.
At the edge of a big pit, shoot two growling crocodiles and get the
medipack in the corner. Use the ramp to climb out of the pit, then face
the left wall and jump and grab the crack in the wall. Shuffle to the
right until you can climb up, then go forward to
z SECRET #2, more shotgun shells. Go back to the crevice and do a
safety drop and shuffle right until you can drop to the ledge.
Walk up the ramp and start down the tunnel until you can drop down a hole
and enter the temple. There's a switch here that opens the gate into the
temple, and you can throw it if you want, but there's no real need.
With guns drawn, go up the stairs to your right to enter the
Colosseum. Wow. Ouch. Pierre is here too, on your left; shoot and jump,
and meanwhile back away from the hallway you just came in by, because
that's where he's heading, and as soon as he reaches it he's away. Be
careful not to fall into the arena yet, however; there's two lions and a
gorilla down there, and they're not too nice. (To you, that is. They like
each other just fine.)
When Pierre is gone and the animals are dead, jump down into the arena
and trot over to the door at the back left. Slide down the ramp (and by
the way, when you slide down a ramp it means it's too steep to allow you
to climb back up again, so you'll have to find another way out) and shoot
the two lions waiting for you. Go to the far wall and use the switch to
open a gate in some rocks in the arena. Turn around and pull the other
switch to open the door next to it. Head down this corridor and into a pit
in the arena floor.
It looks like it'll be easy to climb out of this pit -- but wait,
what's that noise? Blast, four lions have been released into the arena.
Kill them by jumping and shooting them at the top of your jumps; it takes a
while, but it does the trick and it's safe. When they're all dead (or
you're tired of picking them off slowly), climb out of the pit and head
for the rocks at the right, keeping an eye out in case the last lion is
hiding here. (Don't run in this area; there's a pit full of spikes to
skewer yourself on that's hard to spot in the sand.) Go to the door in the
rocks and slide down the ramp.
This room has one locked door, two cells, and a pressure plate in a
far corner. This one is rather tricky since the doors are on timers. You
need to get through a door in the right cell that's opened by a switch in
the left cell, and both doors are opened by the pressure plate. So first
open the cells and go pick up a medipack in the right cell, then step on
the plate in the cell to get back out again. Then go back to the far
corner and step on the plate that opens both cells, run to the left cell,
pull the switch, turn and run to the right cell, and leap out the new door
quick before it closes. Whew! Took me quite a while, as simple as it now
seems; I kept running into the bloody wall and having to start all over.
Pull the switch in here to open the locked door in the room you just
left, then go back and enter that door. Go down the slope into a room full
of spikes. Edge past them and go through the door to a series of ledges
that brings you to the top of the rock pile you were walking through a few
minutes ago. Turn left and head up the slope, then climb the ledge and go
right to find some shotgun shells.
Come back to where you can see the arena and contemplate for a moment.
Obviously you want to reach that elaborate area with all the columns that
overlooks the arena. You can't quite make it on a straight jump, but if
you stand on the farther right of the two lighter-colored ledges, you can
make a running jump that will take you to the slope on the other side of
the door that leads up to that area. Grunt, Lara, grunt.
When you get there, walk up to the level area, then turn left and do a
running jump-and-grab at the ledge on the left. Made it! Draw your guns
and walk forward to kill two gorillas in the bedroom. (That's right, it's a
room full of beds. What did you expect in a Roman colosseum?) Here, in
addition to beds, we have a pool behind a locked gate, a closed door, and
a movable block. Pull the block twice, then go into the dark tunnel
behind it. Pull the switch and pick up a medipack to the left of the
switch.
Make your way back to the arena floor and walk around the rocks, then
turn left and proceed to the block in the left corner. Climb up into the
bleachers and turn right to go into a small chamber in the corner. Stand
at the door and shoot two bats, then walk in and head for the light. The
gate slams shut behind you, and there's a pit, a ramp, and a boulder, gah!
Jump into the pit and the boulder bounces over your head harmlessly. Climb
out of the pit and jump to the other side. Walk up the ramp to another
switch and use it; it opens another door somewhere. Go on out this door
and through a dark passage to a slope that returns you
to the first room.
Turn left as you leave this room and walk towards the far corner of
the room past the door you came in by -- whoops, there's a lioness coming
down the hall, and there's that idiot Pierre again. Pop both of them,
remembering that Pierre wants to get out the hall where the lioness was
(moron). When they're both gone, continue on to the room in the corner.
Stand at the door to cack two more bats, then go forward into the lit
room where you find a block, three columns of different sizes, and two
ledges high overhead. At the top of the ledge on the right is another
switch you need to reach; at the top of the other ledge is a secret door
that opens briefly when you walk to the right of the tallest column. Is
there a way to get up there in time? Yes, there is, but it's kind of dicey.
Are you ready?
Stand facing the block with your back against the wall, with the
tallest pillar to your left. Run past the illar (hear the door open?) and
jump onto the block. As soon as you hit, jump right to land on the first
pillar. Immediately jump back to land on the second pillar. Immediately
jump left to land on the third pillar. Immediately jump forward to land on
the ledge and run like hell into the room just before the door closes.
Wow! That's an accomplishment! Welcome to
z SECRET #3, with two medipacks, some Uzi clips, and a pair of magnums
-- no, not magnum clips, but the actual guns.
Yes, definitely worth it, I'd say. Go back out and do a running jump to
get across to the switch. Throw it, jump back to the ledge, and do your
best to get back down with as little damage as possible.
Out the door and off to the last corner of the room (where there's no
bats, for a change). Throw the switch, which opens the door at the back of
the bedroom, then jump in the pool and swim to another room with a movable
block. Push the block forward twice, then move to the side and pull it once
to reveal a chamber with a Rusty Key in it. Get the key and swim back to
the first room, then go out.
Walk up to the arena and kill a gorilla that apparently dropped out of
heaven, then do a safety drop to the arena floor. Work your way back to
the bedroom (to save time, you can jump carefully between spikes in the
pit) and go into the door in the back to find . . . a single medipack. Oh
well. Use the Rusty Key to open the gate and jump in the water. Oops,
there's a crocodile here. Well, swim past him to the first opening, which
leads to a room with a switch. Pull the switch, then shoot the crocodile
(if he'll let you). When he's dead or you're tired of the game, go
swimming again and keep swimming down the tunnel until you EXIT.
Pickups: 14
Secrets: 3
Kills: 25
PALACE MIDAS
You're swimming when you start this level; head for the surface and
climb out of the pool into a room with three visible exits. Draw your
guns and enter the room straight ahead, where you get to shoot two
gorillas. At the end of this room are two doorways; go through the left
door and pop three more gorillas in a room with a temple-type building.
Pick up the medipack and enter the door. Throw a switch that opens a gate
into a park, then go back through the other door and shoot two more
gorillas. Return back to the pool where you started.
Turn left and shoot a large and fast crocodile, then go down this
passage to an area with stairs on the left. We'll come back to them; for
now, walk next to the stairs and into a large area that looks vaguely like
a stable. Turn right and walk to the very end; turn left and shoot a
gorilla, then get some magnum clips and back out. Turn right and walk
forward until two lions attack. Kill them (you may want the shotgun --
these are big guys) and continue to the end of the room. Turn right and
shoot three bats, then get a medipack from the next to the last alcove on
the left. We're done in this room for now; there's lots of stuff over your
head, but you can't get there from here. For now, retrace your steps and
go up the stairs. At the top, turn left and advance cautiously until you
have shot three gorillas. (Where the heck is this monastery anyway, that it
has all these African animals wandering around in it? Never mind, never
mind. Forget I asked.)
Take a look around the room. There's a series of pillars, four doors
around the outside walls, and a platform in the center. Notice that the
doors have a combination of omegas and upsilons (looks like a Y) on them,
a different combination for each door). Starting from the door on the right
wall and going clockwise,
they are:
1. YOOOO (where you hear a buzzing a little like bats)
2. ?OYYO (the first letter is obscured by a red blotch)
3. OOYOY (behind which you can just glimpse some spikes)
4. YOOOY (under a smaller platform with a rail around it)
Well, they're all locked, so we'll have to find a way up to the center
platform. At the far right near door 1 is a bright orange column that's a
little shorter than the others. Climb up it, jump to the next column, then
turn left and jump to the ledge over door 1. Turn right and do a running
jump-and-grab to the ledge over door 2, where you can get a medipack and
some magnum clips. Return to the pillars and proceed from pillar to
pillar with running jumps. At the last one, turn right and jump to the
central platform at last. Here e have a pit in the floor and five
switches. Huh -- five, just like the number of letters over the doors. Do
you suppose it means anything? Well, if you push just the first switch to
make the pattern down-up-up-up-up, door 1 opens -- so Y=down and O=up.
Drop into the pit, push the switch to open the gate here, then proceed
around to door 1.
That buzz wasn't bats after all; it was fire, huge torches in pillars
in a pool. Step on the pressure plate in front of the first torch and
watch the torches go out, how handy! But once you step off this plate, they
turn on again in fifteen seconds. You have to get to the other end of the
room, and you can't swim there; you have to jump across these columns.
And they aren't even in a straight line. Blast. While you're thinking what
to do, go down the steps at the right and shoot three huge rats in the
water, then return to the pressure plate and save your game. This may take
you a large number of tries. (And there's no point in saving halfway
across; when you reload the game the torches will be on and you'll go up
like -- well, like a torch.)
But there is a way to do it. It turns on the fact that you can make
Lara change her trajectory in midair by pushing the direction keys. What
you need to do is to run and jump off the first pillar, then hold down the
Jump key for the rest of the journey, using the right and left arrows to
get her headed in the right direction once she's airborne. At the last
pillar, you'll have to grab and pull yourself up; if you dawdled along the
way, the torch will come back on while you're hanging there, in which case
you can shuffle to one side, pull yourself up, and run across the side;
this hurts but doesn't kill.
In any case, give yourself three huzzahs -- you made it! Grab a bar of
lead -- lead?! I went through that for a bar of LEAD?! Yes, you'll see.
Pocket the thing and swim back to the stairs. (And no, for some reason
the lead doesn't make her sink in the water. Why do I keep trying to
intrude logic into this business?)
Return to the pillar room and shoot another gorilla. Go via the gate
to the central platform and reproduce the pattern of door 2, which is
something-up-down-down-up. Turns out the door doesn't open unless the
first switch is up. Drop down and go out door 2, which leads to a room with
a pillar in the center and a number of flying buttresses. Nothing to do
here just yet, so go through to the door at the back. Here there's an up
staircase at the left and a down staircase to the right. Turn right and go
down to a room with a movable block. Pull it out and hear a tremendous
crashing thud. Oops. Go back up and go up the other staircase and through
a dark tunnel until you see, um, the remains of the room with the pillar
and the buttresses. Butterfingers!
On the opposite side of the room, however, you can now see a doorway,
through which you must get. Stand at the edge and look down and right; you
can just make out a small dark ledge. Jump to it. From here you can do a
running jump-and-grab to the central pillar -- yes, you can. Really. Once
you get there, you can do another running jump-and-grab to the sandy ledge
beside and just under the doorway.
Jump into the doorway and follow a rocky tunnel to a ledge that
overlooks an aqueduct. This is the top of the room where you shot the
lions earlier. Shoot two gorillas and two bats, then jump across to the
aqueduct. Walk along it and to the right and shoot two crocodiles in the
water, then jump in and swim under the rocks to a rocky room. Get out at
the shelf on the right. You want to make it to the left side, where there's
some goodies. Walk forward, then turn left and climb up the rocks and walk
forward as far as you can. Now jump over the next slope and hold down the
jump key to instantly jump over the next slope and slide to a stop in the
corner. Turn left and clamber over the rocks to reach
z SECRET #1, a medipack and some magnum clips. Cool.
Jump back in the water and swim out, then climb out and walk back to the
place where you first jumped over (where the dead gorilla bodies are).
Look over the edge and see a small medipack below. Do a safety drop below
to get
z SECRET #2 - shotgun shells, Uzi clips and a medipack.
Draw your guns and jump out of the pit to kill the gorilla you've been
hearing grunt at you for the last ten minutes. Walk straight ahead and pick
up a medipack from the second alcove on the right, then walk back and jump
over to the other wing of the structure, where you'll have to kill two
more gorillas (one in the second alcove, one in the next to last). Be
careful of the edge here as you jump for room to shoot; it's too far down
to survive a fall.
Stand in the next-to-last alcove and look across the chasm to the
ledge with a medipack you can just see. Back up as far as you can, then
run, jump, and grab to get to this ledge. Face the wall and jump to grab
onto the crevice, then shuffle to the left and drop onto the ledge. Kill a
bat, then turn and jump over to a door. Proceed up a long tunnel until you
reach a hex-shaped passage with a collapsible floor (that will drop you
into the pool at the end of the aqueduct if you're not careful). Run down
this collapsible tunnel and get the medipack, then turn and climb out of
the tunnel.
Skid down the long slope and climb back down to a ledge above the pool
room where you started this level. Draw your guns, because there's a
lioness up there with you, whoopsie! Put her away, then run along the
ledge and into the door on the other side. Follow the tunnel, then jump
into the left window and out onto a ledge where you can turn right and
make a running jump across to another ledge. Turn right and go up to the
pool and take a swim into the next room, avoiding the big crocodile
swimming in here with you (by swimming deep -- they like to stay near the
surface).
Exit the water and climb up to a spot looking at the roof of a temple.
Shoot a bat, and take some shots at the lions below if you get a chance.
Jump to the roof and pick up another lead bar, then shoot the lions and
drop down. Go down the stairs and into the tunnel, then turn left and go to
the pool room. Go left and make your way back to the room with the five
switches.
Set the switches for door 3, up-up-down-up-down, then drop down and go
to the open door, where the floor is full of spikes. Well, not full
exactly; they seem to be in patterns. Hmm. Well, there's one door at floor
level; go over there and find a ramp and a movable block. Pull it twice to
reveal a tunnel with a switch at the end (the which you should pull). Go
up the ramp and the stairs at its top to find that the switch raised tall
blocks inside the spikes. Do a running jump to the nearest, then to the one
on your right, and so on counterclockwise around the room. At the last
one, draw your guns and jump in and immediately back, because there's a
really ticked-off gorilla in here. Calm him down the hard way, then go on
in and get a last lead bar. Jump back to the pillar, then jump over the
spikes to the ground and return to the 5 switches. There's one more door
in here, but we'll do it later.
For now, head back to the pool room and through the tunnel opposite
the one you just came out of with guns drawn. It's the garden gate that we
opened in the first room. Shoot two gorillas, then go to the back of the
room where there's a small roof-type arrangement. Climb onto the ledge on
the right, then jump over to the roof and get a medipack. Go to the right
side of the roof and walk into the dark at the back, which turns out to be
a passage to the Midas Chamber. Cool. You wondered why this level was
called Palace Midas, didn't you? Stand next to the stone hand and use the
lead bars one by one to turn them to GOLD! (For an usual way to die, try
climbing or jumping onto Midas's hand yourself.)
Return to the garden and go to the right corner next to the gate. Walk
sideways behind the tree, face to the wall, and push Action until Lara
pushes a switch you can't see. Shazam! A gate opens to your right,
z SECRET #3. Enter the gate and walk up to an arrangement like a
vertical bear-trap.
Eidos calls it a slicer, and this is a particularly nasty one -- two in a
row with a collapsible floor between them that drops into a spike pit.
What you need to do is wait for them to shut, then jump through them as
they open. Pick up shotgun shells, magnum clips, and a medipack, then
return as carefully as you came.
Make your way back to the five switches and set them for door 4, up-
down-down-down-up, then drop down and head for the last open door. Shoot a
lion, then head up the stairs to the top and out onto the ledge. Get the
shotgun shells, then go down the stairs and through the right door. Use the
gold bars in the three slots, then enter the open door and slide down the
ramp to EXIT.
Pickups: 21
Secrets: 3
Kills: 42
CISTERN
Stand here a moment to appreciate the interesting sounds. Then draw
your guns and drop into the hole, immediately shooting the honking great
rat that's biting you. Yuck. Push the block forward twice and once to the
right to access a switch that opens a white door and a trapdoor in the
floor. Shoot two rats that come through the wall that just opened. Go
through the white door and get the medipack, then go down the hole and run
outside to a walkway that overlooks a huge room with pillars and a large
pool.
Stand there a moment and shoot two rats below you and two crocodiles
in the pool. Turn to your right and jump to the pillar at your right, then
shoot a rat on the stairs. Walk to the wall then jump up and grab the
crevice. Shuffle left to a ledge, then drop down and take some shotgun
shells. Turn left and grab another crevice; continue left until you can
climb up. Turn right and climb up to a ledge and walk to the end of it to
get the Rusty Key.
Return to the other end of the ledge and climb down, then hang and
drop to the brick walkway below. Follow this walkway around and climb the
pillar at one corner, then turn right and jump to the balcony and go up
the stairs. Blast, Pierre is here again, on your right; shoot him until he
runs away, then turn right and climb the conduit you see here. Jump up to
the next conduit and into a tunnel and climb up to
z SECRET #1, shotgun shells. Walk to the edge of the slope, then slide
down and jump just at the end to land on another ledge with two shotgun
shells. Slide and drop back into the room below.
On the opposite wall, there's a high conduit with some goodies on it.
Run and jump twice to reach a medipack and some more shells. Do a safety
drop to the floor from here. Notice a switch and some openings in the
floor to water. Skip the switch for now and go swimming. There's rats here,
and you can't get out once you get in, so swim deep to avoid them and look
for a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, surface and kill a rat in the
water. Climb and jump up to the top ledge and get a second Rusty Key. Go
forward and hang from the ledge so you can shuffle to the left and drop to
the ledge with two rats, filthy vermin, whom it is a pleasure to
slaughter. Continue forward and slide down the ramp to the main room.
Turn right and jump up to the ledge, then follow it around to get back
to the bridge where you started the level. Turn right and jump to the next
bit of bridge, then turn left and jump to the first door where you get to
use one of those Rusty Keys.
Enter the room and turn around to climb a ledge over the door. Turn
and shoot two gorillas, then jump to the next ledge and shoot at Pierre
from above until he runs off. Jump to the next ledge and get the medipack,
then do another jump to the high ledge. See that little alcove just under
the crevice in the back wall? It's hard to get to, but it can be done.
Stand at the edge closest to the alcove, then turn around and take one
step forward; then hold your breath and jump backwards into space. Open
your eyes to discover that you just landed in the alcove! Amazing. Get the
magnum clips, then do a running jump back to the highest ledge, then turn
around and do a run-jump-grab to grab the crevice above the alcove. Shuffle
to the right and drop to the ledge, then drop through the hole on your
right and run forward to go down the ramp.
Shoot the crocodile in the room, then slide down to the floor and
shoot a second crocodile. (Man, those are big suckers. Lara ought to
saddle one and use him for a horse.) Walk into either of the passages to
alert a third crocodile to your presence and kill him. Shoot a rat and get
the medipack, then return to the room with the dead crocodiles. Climb the
wall above the pedestal, then turn and jump to the ledge, then do a
running jump to the next ledge and one more jump to the ledge on the right.
Go forward and drop to the ledge below, then grab the crevice and shuffle
left to the white door. Use the switch and enter the door. Jump over some
spikes and into a pit where you can shoot two more rats, then drop into a
green hole. Shoot another rat, then drop to the ground. Go through the
door and shoot a rat to your right, then climb the stairs by the Gold Door.
Facing the wall, jump to the ledge, then turn right and climb to the
next ledge. Run to the end and turn around and do a running jump. Climb up
to the ledge and turn right and do another running jump, then jump over to
the switch and open the Gold Door below. Make your way to the floor and
e