I think it is a bold move to encourage more Amiga owners to upgrade their computers to be connected to the internet. It opens up more opportunities for us all to play games together online using our Amigas - how awesome is that future! 

As a small detour, in 2022 there are multiple solutions to get all real Classic Amiga models online. For example, my Amiga 3000, Amiga 2000, and Amiga 4000 systems use a X-Surf 100 Zorro card, available from Individual computers, along with the latest version of the Roadshow TCP Stack. 

Amiga 500/1000 owners can also use solutions like the X-Surf 500 network add-on for the ACA500 Plus or ACA500 from Individual Computers. 

Amiga 1200/600 systems can use some PCMCIA wireless cards and wired cards using drivers from AmiNet along with Roadshow (or AmiTCP if you prefer a non-commercial option).

Hopefully AmigaOS 3.2 can be further developed to include some firewall functionality, and include Amiga virus scanning (old ones) and new viruses scanning functionality (eg. scanning web based scripts, samba vulnerabilities, and realtime scanning). Also, hopefully incorporate a licensed Roadshow/AmiTCP stack, AmiSSL, licensed iBrowse (lower spec Amigas), Netsurf (high spec), and ethernet driver support with the OS to make it easier and safer in this modern world. 

Given much of this stuff already exists (except the firewall and virus scanner) anything is possible right? While I am dreaming please include default WHDLoad handling, licensed Poseidon USB stack, IMP3 mod streaming, mod and mp3 handling via Hippoplayer, AmigaAmp too :-)

Now that is an AmigaOS 3.3 version update I would love to buy! 

Running the installer program from the ADF provided, you can choose German or English.

You then input your ID and key provided to you when you purchased the game

You can then choose the destination drive and folder - you can also tell the installer to ignore the disk size, which is helpful if you are running an older AmigaOS that doesn't read the partition sizes correctly.

Having chosen the path to download and install the files too, the installer then verifies that the ID and key are authorised from the internet before proceeding. All good.

At this point I couldn't help noticing the message that the internet server configuration is a Commodore 64 running GEOS!!! Seriously? 

If true, (emulated or real), I think that is awesome! My Amiga getting new release software from a C64 over the internet in 2022. Heh.

The authorisation is completed successfully and the download starts. Time for a coffee.

Download is completed and the files are also installed:

I close out the installer and launch the AquAbyss program on my Amiga 3000:

Here is the AquAbyss main menu screen:

I first drop into the options to enable the network functionality. This is in the Network sub menu.

I click on Connect to get the program to connect to the internet when it is run.

It then confirms connectivity and checks for new versions:

It now updates as Connected. You can also set it to only be used for updating the software, and not for high scores, internet save games or chatting functions.

Under the Game settings, you can also adjust the AutoSave function, language settings, etc.

Anyway, enough menus, let's get into the game!

You can choose to play in Sandbox mode where you can explore freely with no specific tasks or story to follow, or play the story mode.

To start with, I recommend the story mode, as it gives you the introduction to the game screen and how to play the game. There is also an English manual released this week. For a game like this, the manual is really needed, and it is very helpful:

Stepping into the story mode game itself, we are in 1821, in an underwater human world where we navigate to different cities by submarine! We are first introduced to Albert, who explains the situation you find yourself in.

Albert explains the game screen and how to navigate it:

Reflecting on it, the story mode explains the game world and how to navigate things well enough, so perhaps the manual is not so important.

The main areas of the Market, Shipyard, Police Station, Bar and Dock have icons on the game screen that you can select to move between them. As the game starts we are in Paris.

It quickly becomes clear that your father has not come to meet you and Albert as planned. So, Albert takes us around the town to unlock clues as to what might have happened to him. 

You can interact with the characters with a number of different sentence options which get additional clues and/or information needed to progress.

We then move to the bar based on hunches from Albert to see if we can find out some more about where the player's father has gone.

After some more conversations, Albert goes to find some more clues and asks you to stick around the bar. You can speed up time as needed. For example, if a meet up is planned for a particular time.

I won't spoil the story line too much, but a conspiracy regarding the player's father is uncovered, and Albert and yourself become targets and have to flee the city.

We board a submarine to head off from Paris towards another city.

The submarine has to be kept at a certain depth, depending on the depth of the destination city we are travelling to. Submarines have limited depth, which means not all cities are accessible until upgrades are done, or additional deeper range submarines secured.

I was initially confused about the controls for the submarine, as I am not familiar with ship coordinates to know which way I was supposed to be going!

Needless to say, I stuffed it up and guessed the wrong way. I think using coordinates is a difficult way to control the submarine. I used to suck at ship navigating games on the Amiga (Ports of call springs to mind), so it doesn't surprise me too much!

I quickly failed by going the wrong way, and I was quickly caught by the police we were fleeing from.

The graphics are excellent, with a lot of attention to detail. Considering the game works on on-AGA Amiga systems, they are very good indeed. Music is nice too, and doesn't get annoying.

I had another go, and this time managed to get to Hamburg without a problem.

You also need to get licenses to trade in certain types of goods, which require experience and reputation points that you build over time. There is a lot of depth to this game.

I decided to leave the story mode at this point, and saved the game. On my return a few days later, the game was updated again with multiple new updated versions deployed! This game is very actively updated right now.

If you choose to play in the Sandbox (non-story mode) game, you start with some money (10000 Verns - the in game currency) to get going, and not much else.

Not being in story mode means we can navigate to all sections of the city whenever we want. 

You start with one submarine. You can upgrade it or trade up for other ones, but you can only have one submarine at a time:

I think the Submarine matches the one initially in the story mode, with a depth of 120 metres.

I talked to the Policeman at the Police station, but initially I had nothing much to talk about! The graphics are certainly pretty though.

I then moved to the Bar, where I can talk to everyone there, learning their names, roles, and getting information that can help me. 

Initially everyone is "Guest", but as I talk to them more, buy them food/drinks, or help them with information they want, it unlocks more information that helps you progress.

Also, offering drinks/food affects the trust level to you, and their willingness to help you with other questions.

Some people require me to have more experience before they will tell me anything...

But I know most of the people at the Bar in Paris now!

Moving to the map, you can arrange a voyage to travel to another city. You have to ensure you have enough fuel for that, and I suspect you need to have some cargo contracts in place to earn money to progress further.

I still need to work out how to get some contracts!

Clicking on the city name gives you some status information about how you are travelling in the game:

You can mouse up to the top of the screen to save your game - Note that the game auto saves anyway, and can do a cloud (remote) save, meaning you can continue the game from AquAbyss installed on another Amiga!

I then look through the items I can buy, and try to focus on the items that the city is producing itself, since that is the way to make profits selling to other cities you visit.

I bought some fruit, and now my cargo capacity of 15 is full:

If you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen, a menu comes up allowing you to see tasks you need to complete from other characters in the game, your current items, and network chat.

This menu is very helpful, as it is easy to see at a glance what items you have, and to read/respond to network chat messages from other players that are online.

Here is the task list I have to complete - just one for the bartender in Paris:

The network chat is a great feature of the game, and allows players to talk to each other while playing the game.

I could even talk to the server admin and other online players to get some answers to some questions to get me a little further in the game.

There is more network interaction planned for player trading etc in the future. So the game will continue to evolve!

You can see which players are currently online at the same time, and also switch the view to the online global leaderboard to see how you are ranked compared to the other players who are playing the game.

It is clear I have a long way still to go to reach the level of some of the players - 33 cities to discover just to catch up to Sordan! 

I set off from Paris and travel to Hamburg, as I learnt where it was from playing the storyboard mode previously.

Once there, I sell my goods I bought in Paris, and buy up some of the local specialities in Hamburg.

The prices are shown for the cities you have discovered, which helps you to make a decision when buying/selling items.

Nipping back to the online network chat, I asked some more guidance and was told about another town called Old Danzig.

I quickly went on a voyage and found it.

More cities discovered of course opens up more trading opportunities and people to meet, more tasks and more progression in the game.

Don't forget to refuel your submarine before setting off though - you don't want to run out of fuel on the way!

The trading is involved and you do need to learn how to do it well to make progress.

I look wistfully at the submarine upgrades, which I have to earn a lot more currency before I can buy. When I want to do that, I have to sell my old one, as you can only have one submarine.

With the upgraded submarine, you can get a grabber and drilling devices to allow you to get resources from the seabed when travelling:

If you run out of fuel while moving around, if you have enough money, you can call an SOS service to get you out of trouble and supply some fuel where you are stranded.