Red Storm will use IBM Java-based software technology, code named InVerse, in the
development of future collaborative games for the Internet. Red Storm will help IBM
evolve
the InVerse technology for
use in Web applications that require large-scale, real-time collaboration.
The first Red Storm game to use this technology, Tom Clancy's POLITIKA, which
previewed at the
Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta June 19 -21, 1997
and is shipping this November. The InVerse technology is ideally suited to
gaming applications as it can host a variety of interactive, multi-user Web
sites -- from simple chat rooms to elaborate virtual communities.
What is POLITIKA?
"The game will play out as you, the user, decide it will. It's designed for free-form
play, with all the creativity and skullduggery you can muster. All is fair, as we
know, in love and war--and in politics (as any American can testify) the rules are
looser still."
-- Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy's Politika is a new form of storytelling in which players create their
own stories and outcomes. Set in post-Yeltsin Russia, Tom Clancy's Politika is the
first online game tied closely to current international events. To play the game,
up to eight factions vie to amass enough money, resources and power to win control
of the country. Tom Clancy's Politika combines mutiplayer gaming with online
conversation. Because spying has always been a component of political negotiation,
the game's realism extends to include an espionage component that allows players to
eavesdrop on each other.