Chances are you haven't played this game. That's a shame, because for a Windows 3.1 game it sure rocked. Operation: Inner Space to this day is still bought and played by a small group of fans.
One day I showed my friend the game and got him excited about it, only to find that he had Vista 64-bit. There is NO support for 16 bit applications in any 64-bit version of Windows. He could install a virtual machine and run it in there, but not only does he not have an extra copy of Windows, but that would defeat the purpose of the game.
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Let me give you a bit of background information on it. Operation: Inner Space was released in 1992 by the company Software Dynamics, and was their first game. Before that they'd made very popular screen savers.
Inner Space was different, at the time the most popular game for Windows (3.1) was Solitaire. If you wanted real games, fast games, you played them in DOS. They made a game that was not only fast, but ran on even the lowest of computers. 17 years later people still play it.
So whats so fun and appealing about Inner Space? Well for starters where else can you blast apart MS Word, shoot it will balls of fire, and watch it explode? You are launched into your computer, and fight your way through all of your folders, wiping out viruses, collecting programs (to upgrade your ship and buy weapons) and blasting those you hate. (Excel?)
You aren't alone in the game. There are several alliances that also collect programs and wipe out viruses. Some hate you from the start and some like you. Its up to you if you help your enemies and turn them into your friends, or just kill everyone.
Part of the reason why so many people play it to this day was the company's dedication to their players. They'd release and enhanced Ship Factory (design your own custom ship and then play it) and if you sent in a decent ship you made, they'd put it on their site! They came out with patches and didn't stop until it was stable and bug free. You cant ask for more in a company.
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My friend and I are now going to be working on a modern day sequel to Inner Space, with Multiplayer and 64 bit support. We will post Screenshots as we progress.
Happy Coding!
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(http://www.sdispace.com/index.html) Software Dynamics Home Page, (http://www.sdispace.com/inspace.htm) Inner Space Home Page
