Shrapnel Games Gets Weird!

[Annette]

News Release For Immediate Release


Shrapnel Games Gets Weird!
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space Coming Soon!

Cary, NC, 30 June 2005

Space. Full of stars and planets, galaxies and quasars. And if Futurama is to be believed,
flying brains and intergalactic Harlem Globetrotters. You know it, you love it.
Especially on your PC. But space is big. Infinite, in fact. You want to explore it, you
want to see all the sights it has to offer, yet who has time? As much as you want to spend
the next five years boldly wooing alien women and fighting styrofoam monsters you can
barely find time to watch Galaxy Quest again. Enter Digital Eel and Shrapnel Games.

Shrapnel Games is excited to announce that we will soon be publishing Digital Eel's
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space. Currently slated to go gold in September, it will
be available for the Windows operating system, and while insanely rich in gameplay it
will only ask for a modest system to enjoy it upon.

Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space is your single-player ticket to an endlessly
replayable space opera starring you, as the ________ (Choose from one of the following:
(a) reluctant (b) over-confident (c) chosen (d) drunken and brain-damaged) hero. Fly one
of three ships into the great unknown of the cosmic highways and byways, as you gain
fame and fortune through wily negotiations, discovering strange new worlds, and
slaughtering wave after wave of alien scum in a xenophobic display of violence that
would make Zap Brannigan weep with joy!

Every time you start a Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space session you'll encounter a
totally new universe to explore! It's never the same game twice (although
mathematically it may be possible, but highly improbable) as the universe, and all the
worlds are created each game. And best of all you can thrill to your galactic adventures
in less time than it takes to watch "The Trouble With Tribbles". A typical game session
averages about ten minutes, with the high end timing out around thirty minutes. Of
course if you really want to take on an entire Garthan flotilla armed with nothing more
than a winning smile your playtime may be quite shorter.

A ten minute space opera? Yes, indeed, and one full of everything you'd expect in a
space opera. To wit: explore new worlds on the turn-based sector map and encounter
aliens, events, and relics.battle seven kinds of aliens bent on your destruction in real-
time, with an amazing array of ship types and weaponry.upgrade (or if you're some sort
of masochistic weirdo, downgrade) your ship components through trade.witness
supernovas, black holes, and other mysteries of the known universe including ghostly
space hulks and eldritch artifacts.

Wait, it even gets better! On top of the fact that you can play Weird Worlds: Return to
Infinite Space over and over again and thrill to brand new adventures each and every
time, all within the space of your lunch hour, gamers can continue to discover new
adventures with the game's ease of moddability. Mod-makers will be thrilled to learn
how easy it is to mod Weird Worlds, and even those gamers that have always been afraid
to tackle modding will find Weird Worlds to be a very friendly experience. Because of
this Infinite Space is truly infinite.

Rich Carlson, co-designer of Weird Worlds has this to say: "If you're a fan of space
adventure movies and TV programs (like the one with the pointy-eared science officer
and the Scottish engineer), or if you just like to blow up stuff, Weird Worlds is definitely
for you!"

For more information on Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space please visit its
gamepage at www.shrapnelgames.com/digital_eel/Weird_worlds/1.htm, and for our
complete award-winning lineup of the best independent computer and board games
available, please visit us at www.shrapnelgames.com

You can even pre-order starting today and save $5.00 off the ridiculously weird price of
$24.95 (that makes it $19.95 for the mathematically challenged). Just point your browser
to Shrapnel Games e-Store, the Gamers Front, at www.gamersfront.com/cgi-
bin/store/category.cgi?item=42210&type=store.

About the Companies

Digital Eel, the geniuses behind Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space, are a trio of
industry professionals based in Seattle, Washington. Well known for their amazing
"coffee break" games such as Dr. Blob's Organism, Big Box of Blox, and the prequel to
Weird Worlds, Strange Adventures in Infinite Space, Digital Eel epitomizes the cutting
edge of the world of independent gaming. Their titles always provide gamers with an
amazing bang for their buck, with superb audio and visual presentations, and highly
addictive gameplay, all amazingly programmed in their spare time.

Located in picturesque North Carolina, Shrapnel Games was formed in 1999 by Tim
Brooks and is recognized worldwide as one of the finest publishers of independent
computer war and strategy titles, with an emphasis on creativity, uniqueness, and
replayability. Recently released titles include Dragoon: The Prussian War Machine, The
Falklands War: 1982, and Salvo!. Upcoming games include the highly anticipated Land
of Legends, Dominions III, the boardgame ETO, and the pen-and-paper RPG Foresight.
Shrapnel Games is always on the look out for the best and brightest the independent
gaming world has to offer.

[Ed Kolis]

Sounds exciting... reminds me of Star Control!
Is this a sequel to Strange Adventures in Infinite Space? The name is rather similar
Say, is there going to be a demo? I'd like to try it out first to make sure it runs under wine on my Linux box?

[Annette]

Ed Kolis said:
Sounds exciting... reminds me of Star Control!
Is this a sequel to Strange Adventures in Infinite Space? The name is rather similar
Say, is there going to be a demo? I'd like to try it out first to make sure it runs under wine on my Linux box?

The designers call it "the continuation." Check out A Note From The Designer for more details.

And yes (of course!) we'll have a demo. We consider that a requirement on all our games. We'll let you know when it's ready

[SlapBone]

The title of this thread should be "How Shrapnel stifles the shareware business". I am a huge fan of the original but you won't get my order unless you offer it via download.

I know you guys have have experimented in the past, but to be honest, it was with sub-par games (Dungeon Odyssey lol). If you guys offered more downloadable games my Shrapnel library would almost rival my Matrix library. As it sits I only buy the Triple-A titles from you(eg. Dominions II and Space Empires IV).

I know you didn't ask for it but there are a number of your games that fall into this category for me including LoL, Space Horse, and the Stormcloud titles

I'll probably buy Salvo though

[Richard]

The price is on par with your typical shareware (24.95, 19.95 currently) and there will be a demo as well as free shipping.

So your actually getting more (a free CD, manual) for the same price you would have paid for a typical shareware title (ie 19.95 right now).

So what's the problem?

[SlapBone]

CDs are the problem. I bought Interstellar Trader 2 from you guys. The file is like 10-15mb. Why do I have to wait on a CD to come through snail mail for a 10-15mb file or actually any size file.

I buy games from you guys, and for CD people I don't have many problems with your policies (copy protection etc...) and you have the best customer service of any company I've had the pleasure (or displeasure) of doing business with.

These kind of games are impulse buys for a lot of people, especially when you use the words "lunch break" to sell the product so waiting 3 or more days (free shipping) kind of zaps my need for the game. I bought the original in question here, and believe it or not, I bought and downloaded it during my lunch break one day. Now, I'll play the demo of your "20-minute" game but then go buy something like Astral Masters or Smugglers 3 instead, because those can provide instant gratification.

[Richard]

If it's the wait then we have toyed with allowing folks to instantly download certain products, while the CD is on the way, for instant gratification. This, of course, would not include the manual as that would be shipped to you.

If we ever did this it would have to be after a game is gold and only with certain low priced, size, games.

This doesn't mean we will ever do this, but we have been thinking about it.