which houses one of the bombs. While there, the player learns that Rama's course has diverted away from Earth and is no longer a risk, but the bombs have already been armed to explode in six hours. Unfortunately, O'Toole, who knows the code to disarm it, is lost, and during the six in-game hours, the player has to interpret the code and find the bomb in order to disarm it. The epilogue implies a sequel, which was already scheduled for production, but was never completed. Characters Many of the characters the player will meet first appeared in Rama II. Characters are played by live actors. There are several hints throughout the game about the characters' relations that point to a secondary backplot. There are also some characters who are never met but are referred to elsewhere in the game: Shigeru Takagishi (Scientist) (played by Jim Ishida) David Brown (Mission Commander) (played by Robert Nadir) Francesca Sabatini (Video Journalist) (played by Tiffany Helm) Otto Heilmann (Chief Security Officer) (played by Sean Griffin) Michael O'Toole (Codemaster) (played by Robert E. Henry) Richard Wakefield (Chief Engineer) (played by Stephan Weyte) Reggie Wilson (Print Journalist) (played by Donald Willis) Irina Turgenyev (Career Cosmonaut) (Voiced by Sharon Mann) Nicole des Jardins (Medical Officer) (played by Amy Hunter) Puck (little robot) (played by Kevin Donovan) Falstaff (little robot) (played by Edward F. D'Arms) Hiro Yamanaka (IBI Agent) Janos Tabori (IBI Agent) Valeriy Borzov (IBI Agent; Deceased before the game and replaced by the player character) Development The game supports DOS, Microsoft Windows, and Macintosh and was created using version three of the SCI game engine. As was usual in that time, the graphics are combination of 3D rendered scenery and live-action actors in 256 colours. The game comes on two CD-ROMs, with a third reserved for videos. The first part of the videos show the prologue, concerning the reaction on Earth when Rama was discovered in a form of a journalist show, and hosts interviews of the characters that will be seen later in the game. The other features a brief interview with Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. Clarke himself appears in some scenes of the game, such as when the player dies, and in the epilogue, gives advice to the player. He is implemented into the scenery and humorously interacts with it, provoking a Biot into a fight in one example. Reception Before Ramas