Here, you will find
all new
news I receive around the Net about
Net
Link
related junk, Upgrade info,
and other little news tidbits.
News April 1st
News today: April 2nd The Truth Of The Upgrade
Any questions e-mail the
Webmaster (nirv)
What's been floating around the net lately,
and from what I have heard from Jim, was that our Net Link
upgrade was supposed to be released by March 31st 1997.
Obviously, someone was pullin our chain. Here's what I know
of the upgrade so far; Ok for 1, the upgrade will be
on Planet Web and Sega's site to download for free. This
is labeled as the "Beta Version" which was to take around
6-7 minutes to download into the Saturn's memory and
stay there untill the Saturn was turned off. In the Beta
version, we, Net Linkers, are supposed to find and report
all bugs if any so that Planet Web can fix them for the cd
version that is supposed to be released around 4-6 weeks
after the Beta version. The cd version will run about
$20-$25 and contain more graphics then the Beta due to
memory limitations. Remember, this isn't all true it's
just what's been floating around etc.
What the Beta version is supposed to contain
Features and what not:
Frames. Yes, a form of frames are supposedly supposed
to be on the upgrade. I hear that these frames are not
viewed as you see them on a PC. But let's all hope these
are in here!
No keyboard lockup You know how annoying it is
to work on your web page and have your keyboard double type
and/or freeze altogether. This is supposed to be
eleminated in the upgrade.
Smooth Page Loading When images are loading up
on a web page, the Saturn loads and prevents you from
scrolling up or down. This is highly annoying and this
for sure will be in the upgrade. This was proved to be
true when a Sega Rep stated that this will be one of the
"cool features".
That's pretty much all I know as of April 1st. Until tomorrow
when Sega announces the upgrade info. It will be here
as soon as I hear it! In the WBS chat room, there were
two Sega reps having a little "chat" with us Net Linkers
and were telling us that they will make a games announcement
within a few days or so. They say "we will not be disappointed"
with either the games and upgrade. Tomorrow, all this
"speculation" of what the upgrade will contain will all
be explained and this will be the truth; Directly from
the Net Link Producer: Paul Stathacopoulos.
Also I forgot to mention that when the Beta version is
released, there will be a comments/suggestions form
you can fill out at the Planet Web site. I believe what I
heard was that if enough people suggest something to
be added in the CD VERSION of the upgrade, and if it's
logical, they will see that it be added. So if this is
in fact, true, we by all means must request that IRC chat
be added and/or copy n paste. That's what I am looking
for. :)
Ok here's the news! Paul just called and here's the
skinny!
First, in about 1 hour from now (6:30pm CST right now)
in the "What's New" section in Sega City, it will be
totally redesigned so that it loads quicker, and will have
some breif upgrade features list!
Sadly, the upgrade won't be out untill this Monday.
I guess it's ok here's what it will and will not contain.
A form of frames, (just like I knew). No load flicker,
and no keyboard lockup. These are what I know for sure.
It will not contain Real Audio. Nor will it contain IRC.
But Paul said that he's already tried the IRC chat and they
will have it soon! It's not to "big" or "difficult"
to add in our upgrade says Paul.
This is also something new; After you download like the
first Beta version, every week or so, something new
will be added to download like maybe Real Audio, and
a week after that, copy n paste. It all depends on
what we ask for using the Planet Web's form on Monday!!
And we will get more and more stuff to download as we get
closer to the cd version. (Hope you understand me) :)
And there still is no release date for the cd version.
The games announcment is still gonna be in a couple of
days so I'll keep you up-to-date on it!
News for April 3rd
Not much today, 'cept I got a tiny bit of online games news.
I don't know if anyone knew this but it is true that the
online games will have a DIRECT DIAL option which means
that right in the game, you type in someone's phone number
and connect like that. So it's pretty much like a PC.
I think this is what they meant when they said,
"You will not be disappointed"! I'm pretty excited about
the direct dial option! I still don't know weather or not
we will have the option to connect MORE than 2 players
online. I'm sure the ONLINE gaming will still be an option
for people who want to play others in other states
but don't want to pay for long distance bills!
News April 4th
Great GREAT news for all you WBS chatters!!!! I just talked
to Jim at Planet Web and that Ascii code to boot people
(freeze up your Saturn) has been fixed in the first download
at the last second! AWESOME!! He said "it was fairly easy
to fix" so that's good news. Also, the IRC chat is about
90-95% finished so that will be availible for download
about 2 weeks after the first download (Monday) So get
ready for IRC! Let's see.....oh! The frames will work
like this: You will have optionns to switch through
frames using some sort of command or control so therefore,
we will only see 1 frame at a time but at least we will have
them! ....not too many new graphincs if any in the first upgrade,
however the mail system will be a tad bit different.
Jim says it will be faster or easier because you won't
need to connect to your server each time or something like
that. The upgrade will be out Monday, around Mid-day
is what Jim says. But there is no exact time.
All in all great news to say the least and I'll keep
you up to date!!!
The only bad news for this update is that we still will
not be able to view the