It's very hard to give updated information, because everything changes very fast. When I wrote this, the newest version of the game was the 0.99.7 one. Use always the newest version, because they are not compatible: two players can't be using two different versions at the same time. You may read my links page, on the Bolo section, to see the location of the WWW pages refering to Bolo. To find the newest version of Bolo, the best way is to go to an archie server (for example, the archie.doc.ic.ac.uk) and type "bolo" on the searching field.

To find an active game to join, you can use a program called BoloFinder. That program opens a connection to a server that keeps track of active games. You can point the program to the USA server (it cames alredy configurated) or to the Europe server (Host:ray.abo.fi Port:50000).

And what about 3D games? Don't worry, it's not Doom-like. You don't need to buy a PowerMac at 150 Mhz to be able to play decently. This game uses the polygons technology: it has the advantage of beign very fast, without too much complexity and it's not very confusing.

You are the HECTOR, this nice robot that may fire plasma cannons, grenades or even guided missiles.

Well, the point is that, using that old technology that no one would even dream using nowadays, Ambrosia Software did a simply spectacular game called AVARA. The point of the game is simple: blow-those-guys-away, or blow-those-guys-away + how-in-the-world-do-I-open-this-door. Unlike BOLO, this game supports the single-player game, because it has built-in levels with that purpose. On those levels, besides destructing everything that moves, you must solve some puzzles, find some secrets and pass trought complex obstacles, where you'll have to use all of your skills to drive these strange robots. But the most fun thing to do with this game is to play over a network. The game supports 6 players, over an AppleTalk or InterNet. Again, this game has an advantage, in the technical field, over BOLO. BOLO needs a minimal speed between every computer in the game, so, if the net conditions are bad, there is no game. AVARA uses "The Show Must Go On" method. So, you don't need to worry about the net conditions, because the game will run at the highest speed possible, under the conditions of that moment of the Net. I think you should try this game, because it's SPECTACULAR!

There are a lot of other things that make this game very good, because Ambrosia gets worried with every little thing: to make new levels, just draw a 2D graphic, and join some easy code-lines on some drawing program, and the game will decode it and make it a level. Each level may have it's own music, there's a tracker (one, just one, and this is an advantage over BOLO), where you may see all the InterNet games, and so on...

And you may try, in a network game, the BallGame level, because, besides the kill-the-other-guy, there is another point on the game (droping a ball on a target).

Well... I like this game so much, and I was so happy writing this description, that I only noticed that I forgot the links for you to download the game when I was checking the text! :-) Well, we have the Avara's site, http://www.avara.com. Here you may find the files to download. You may jump directly to the Avara's page on the Ambrosia server: http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/Ambrosia_Products/Avara.html. And the last, but not the least, Ambrosia itself, on http://www.ambrosiaSW.com.

You can be playing with someone else, watch other people games, chat, and so on. It's cool! But you need a Mac with a 14 inches or bigger monitor. Again, be careful with the phone bills.

This page was made by Miguel Arroz. If you find any problem, please e-mail me!

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