Reach Out and Touch Someone... With Your Flux Cannon

I picked up this magazine for its promise of Wing Commander Armada strategies... and 80% of the article ended up being about how you connect to the other player! The

GOG release

makes multiplayer easy on a modern machine, I’ve played more Armada in the last two months than I did in the previous decade combined. Stay tuned for more Armada news in the near future!

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Okay, so you've bought Wing Commander Armada and you're ready to take on the head-to-head challengers. If you read last month's review, you know that this game's best feature is its two-player support. But if you've followed any of the message traffic on the on-line networks you've probably seen many messages titled "Armada Modem Play: HELP!!"

Why all the confusion? Despite advancing technology in virtually every other sphere of computing, telecommunications is still an arcane art requiring a mastery of fragile components, obscure modem strings, and sheer wizardry. I wouldn't be surprised to discover in my favorite RPG a spell called "Make Modem Connection." It's bound to happen.

The article addresses some of the arcana associated with producing a reliable modem connection. In particular, we'll focus on how to get a connection going in WC Armada. Finally, some hints and tips on strategies I've found effective against a human opponent.