Planet - A New Frontier

[emiro]

Okay, I'm really bringing this up from the ashes. This game, by Kimbro Software, is a space/city-builder. Other names it seems to have gone by are Planetfall (probably got in trouble with the more popular "Planetfall"), and Ares. Released in the late 90's, it's creator has vanished from the web. I was, however, able to find their website with the wayback machine. A demo version (can only play a 10th or so of the game) is available there.

Some unique featuers:

Technologies: researched at laboratories (that you must first build). Lots of freedom in what order to research things, but there are obvious pro's and even con's to some tech.

Resources: Food, water, metal, oxygen, labor force... must all be *meticulously* kept in balance.

Disasters: Meteors, earthquakes, deterioration, spontaneous miscarriages, "cabin fever", experiments gone wrong, and xeno viruses all wreak havoc on your meticulous balance (keep a history of saves!)

Happiness: keeping citizens happy means keeping up with demands for resources, housing, entertainment, health facilities, civil services, work-hours per day.

Story: Unlike other Civ-type games, there is one overarching story that pops up every now and then. And if you don't skip over it, there is a considerable opportunity to connect with the life of your little colony as it struggles for survival. If I recall properly, I honestly got emotional the first time I played this game--happy and sad, at moments.

[patryckslasher]

Okay, I'm really bringing this up from the ashes. This game, by Kimbro Software, is a space/city-builder. Other names it seems to have gone by are Planetfall (probably got in trouble with the more popular "Planetfall"), and Ares. Released in the late 90's, it's creator has vanished from the web. I was, however, able to find their website with the wayback machine. A demo version (can only play a 10th or so of the game) is available there.


Hmm... Interesting... I'll try to help, if this can be approved I can search for the full thing.
I guess this is off-topic, but you still have the save point just before the end of it?
EDIT: I'll remove this line and put the name of the website only in some hours, it's the only way for me to look for it when I get home, if someone wants to check it out...
http://web.archive.org/web/20020604032847/http://www.kimbrosoft.com/ksfdwn.htm

[emiro]

I guess this is off-topic, but you still have the save point just before the end of it?

End of full game or demo? How would you like me to get it to you?

[patryckslasher]

End of full game or demo? How would you like me to get it to you?
Well, do you have the full game?:sneakrete: If you do, nevermind, you can post it when it gets approved, I can wait. If you don't, send me via e-mail, you can find it in my profile page.

[Cluseck]

Well, it's virtually impossible to find any info on the game. Hell, I'm not sure if it a full version was actually released. However, I think we can label it as 'approved'. Can anyone confirm this?

[patryckslasher]

Well, it's virtually impossible to find any info on the game. Hell, I'm not sure if it a full version was actually released. However, I think we can label it as 'approved'. Can anyone confirm this?
Yeah, some games are very hard to find actually. Jumpstar, by Dexterity Software can be a good example.
About the topic's game, I coudn't find ANYTHING anywhere outside of the website (kimbrosoft.com). If someone has a full version anywhere, it can be called lucky, at least.

[emiro]

So, is this just waiting on someone to find the full version? Technically, what you can download *is* the full version... it's just got some sort of lock on it. I know, because I was able to play through to the end of the game, by loading a save that starts after the locked time (5.98 years, i believe). Surely someone out there can hack passed a simple lock on such an old, cheaply-made game?? :)

Last night I tried accessing my old AOL email account to see if I still had the "key" that the owner emailed to me.... amazing part was I was able to guess my password on the first try! (Hadn't logged into that account in over a decade!) Less than surprising, however, was that all emails on the account had long since been deleted by AOL. :(

[Smiling Spectre]

I bet, it's not very hard. Game asks for license key, then verify it. Nothing compressed, everything is plain, so experienced hacker must have no any difficulties to crack it.

Unfortunately, I am not that hacker. :(

[bobbyhall2]

Any progress? I'm really eager to play the full version. Finally found it today after years of searching.

[Smiling Spectre]

Correct question is, if anyone tried. :) Again: not me.

What do you mean by "full version"? Something different from shareware, linked before?

[bobbyhall2]

Correct question is, if anyone tried. :) Again: not me.

What do you mean by "full version"? Something different from shareware, linked before?

I downloaded the game from the link above (https://web.archive.org/web/20020202142427/http://kimbrosoft.com/ksfdwn.htm). The game keeps crashing around the 5th in-game year, around the same limit as the trial version.

[emiro]

Well, folks, I've been waiting for this day for a long time. Here ya go, Internet. Your missing game: Planet: The New Frontier by Kimbrosoft.

It's still as buggy as the original, and the intro doesn't work. Just use "ares.exe" to jump right into the game.

(The intro is something like this really quick, unannounced 5-second "HEY YOU'RE CRASHING! PICK A PLACE TO LAND!" with like no warning and then there's something like "so you are the commander of the first mission to inhabit another 'earth' but somethings wrong, because you crashed on some other inhospitable planet, good luck. some of your science experts and materials were lost in the crash but you have a couple hundred people in stassis, wake them when you're ready to support them".)


PS I added the help file separate so it'd fit here.

PSS Good luck, this game is kinda tricky... staving off disaster takes incredible insight (or loading a save 10+ turns back). But I won't spoil any more, have fun!

[tienkhoanguyen]

Well, folks, I've been waiting for this day for a long time. Here ya go, Internet. Your missing game: Planet: The New Frontier by Kimbrosoft.

It's still as buggy as the original, and the intro doesn't work. Just use "ares.exe" to jump right into the game.

(The intro is something like this really quick, unannounced 5-second "HEY YOU'RE CRASHING! PICK A PLACE TO LAND!" with like no warning and then there's something like "so you are the commander of the first mission to inhabit another 'earth' but somethings wrong, because you crashed on some other inhospitable planet, good luck. some of your science experts and materials were lost in the crash but you have a couple hundred people in stassis, wake them when you're ready to support them".)

PS I added the help file separate so it'd fit here.

PSS Good luck, this game is kinda tricky... staving off disaster takes incredible insight (or loading a save 10+ turns back). But I won't spoil any more, have fun!

I played it once and I just wanted to give feedback; I love the sounds. It was funny in a cool way! I also love how you can use the mouse to control the areas. One thing I will always remember about this game is the cheering sounds. Thank you for a funny chuckle. :)

Also, I like that it has a small footprint. Small in size and manageable to download in a short amount of time. For the size the graphics are very impressive from a programmer's point of view.

And to other members my FREE virus scanner from Google did not detect any virus on this one. However I caution that it is a cheap virus scanner.

If there is no virus in the end I give it a total score of: CUTE!

Not being self absorbed. I'm giving feedback just like I would like others to help me out if I needed it. Many times I work for years and never get feedback and it leaves you thinking is my game any good.

For short term entertainment and amusement I really love the sounds. I believe it is useful for long term pickups too when you are sad and have no one but I have Myst for that. hehe

Once again I'm not trying to be self absorbed. I am giving feedback that I like your game although I don't know what others think. It is just my opinion and the only reason I'm not keeping it is I am just afraid of viruses since it's a Windows game. If it was containable like DOSBox then it is easy to contain the virus by mounting a separate directory.

The bottom line is Thank you for a laugh. My softwares in DOS doesn't have quite a cool and realistic sound mechanism because I am a beginning programmer.

Once again if only I could be sure I would keep it. In either case I will always remember the laugh and I gave it a try. Thank you and hope your games go well. I know many programs that went on to great success because they are free and no viruses were found. Although they may have advertisements it is not a virus yet since I have been using these other programs for years.

I hope you find my feedback useful and uplifting!!! :OK: ??I don't know if you are a programmer but I know being a programmer it is nice to know feedbacks from time to time. I do get that from the number of people downloading my games although I don't know who downloaded it.

For what it is worth Thank you God for a laugh for what it is worth. You are appreciated by at least one person and I will always remember that little kindness.

[nameisnotimportant]

I've been playing the game. Quite fun. A survival colony builder from the old days.
If you encounter issues with rocket launch UI, you will need to reduce your screen resolution to or below 1680x1050.