TECH SUPPORT - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Inner Space has been rigorously tested, but issues occasionally come up. Please download and try the free demo BEFORE ordering the full version of Inner Space. See the Features Page for a feature list, game secrets, cheat codes and reviews. Many users find new things after years of play.

If the demo version works on a particular PC, so will the full version. If you can't get the demo version to work, the full version won't either.

Q: WHY IS INNER SPACE SO UNLIKE GAMES THAT COME OUT NOW?

If Inner Space seems retro, that's because it is. Inner Space was the *first* Windows action game in the early 90s, a ground-breaking product targeted at Windows 3.1 PCs with a single 80386 CPU running at 16Mhz. The fastest PCs back then were thousands of times slower than anything used today. Constraints give a nice framework for creativity. We designed a great game with lasting value and fun. Classic games developed in that era, such as Inner Space and Tetris, are still played today because the focus was on satisfying game play, not on eye candy or pushing players to in-app purchases.

Q: WILL INNER SPACE WORK ON MY PC?

Since Inner Space was developed in 1992 for Windows 3.1, you need to try it for yourself before ordering. Please download and try the free demo BEFORE ordering the full version of Inner Space. If the demo version works on a particular PC, so will the full version. If you can't get the demo version to work, the full version won't either.

We've successfully tested it on Win 3.1, Windows 95, Win 98, Win Me, Windows NT, Win 2000, XP, Vista and 32-bit Windows 7. Using the free DosBOX app, we've also successfully tested in on Windows 7, 8 and 10. Users have told us it even works on Linux and MacOS through DosBOX. Please try the free demo yourself to confirm you can install and play the game on your computer.

Q: HOW DO I INSTALL / RUN THE GAME ON WINDOWS 7, 8 or WINDOWS 10?

It depends on whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. No changes are required to install and run the game on 32-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, XP, Win 2000, Win NT, Win Me, 98, and Win 98, even though Inner Space was developed in 1992 for Windows 3.1. It is an extreme example of the saying 'If you build something right, it can keep working even when the environment changes'. The unaltered original game has continued to work excellently through so many Windows versions. If you have 64-bit Windows 7,8 or Windows 10, you can still install and play Inner Space as detailed below.

INSTALLING INNER SPACE IN 64-BIT WINDOWS 7, 8 or 10

This procedure will work for any 64 bit version of Windows. In fact, these instructions even allow you to play Inner Space on a computer with Linux or MacOS.

1. INSTALL DOSBOX
DosBox is a free application that allows you to emulate MS-DOS on any computer. Windows 3 and 3.1 were DOS applications. Go to http://www.dosbox.com/ to learn about Dosbox. Go to http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1 to download and install DosBox. The top DOSBox version in the list is for Windows.

2. FIND & INSTALL WINDOWS 3.1
There are 3 ways to get Windows 3.1. Regardless of where you get it from, follow the instructions at http://www.howtogeek.com/230359/how-to-install-windows-3.1-in-dosbox-set-up-drivers-and-play-16-bit-games/. The instructions detail how to install it and set up video and audio to work for Windows 3.1 within DosBox.

a. The best option. If you still have an old copy of Windows 3.1 on CD or disks, you can copy those files into a folder and install from those.
b. If you go to http://vetusware.com/download/Windows%203.1%20_for%20DOSBox_%203.1/?id=8484, they seem to have a version of it you can install under dosbox.
c. If all else fails, any torrent site would allow you to get a copy of Windows 3.1.

3. INSTALL INNER SPACE IN WINDOWS 3.1
Now that you have Windows 3.1 running under DosBox, simply install Inner Space from within Windows 3.1. If Windows 3.1 is already configured for video and sound, you are all set!

Q: WHY DIDN'T YOU UPDATE INNER SPACE FOR NEWER OS's OR MOBILE?

The short answer is that we considered it, but it was too expensive and risky. We opted to do other lucrative, high-profile work because we didn't have the budget to support a proper sequel to Inner Space.

Inner Space was very successful, ground-breaking & award-winning in its time. We did plan and start work in the mid-1990s on Inner Space II (code-named Lightning). We continue to support and sell the original version to this day but a sequel or port didn't make economic sense. The sequel would have updated the game for newer OSs as well as better visuals, polymorphic adaptive AI and opportunities for spontaneous play (in addition to goal-oriented structured play). Unfortunately, game development had changed. Average games started having multi-million dollar budgets. We didn't have the funding to compete on that level and the sort of complex Artificial Intelligence under the hood in Inner Space takes a lot of dev and testing time. Meanwhile, we were getting exciting and lucrative opportunities to design software for other companies. This lead us away from game development. We include gamification and lessons learned into every project since Inner Space.

Q: YOU CAN'T SERIOUSLY ASK $25 FOR A GAME FROM 1992?

Of course we do. It's a very good thing. There are good reasons to not discount it and put it on Steam. Read below to see why the price makes perfect sense.

We don't mind the question. Games usually release at a high price, then get discounted 6 months later, bargain-bin priced and then sales stop dead. Inner Space is absolutely unique.

Inner Space was a hot seller for the first three years, then sales dropped. We discounted the game and sales dropped. We discounted more and sales dropped faster. Four years in, the game wasn't hugely profitable and we were onto other projects, so we did something truly novel. If sales kept dropping when we *lowered* the price, we wondered what would happen if we put the price back up?

We put the game all the way back up to its original price. Amazingly, sales increased. A lot. They didn't go back to their initial levels, but it convinced us to never lower the price ever again. We realized that many years after initial release, only true fans who loved the game would purchase it at all. Lowering the price was like telling our fans they were wrong to love the game.

Our fans weren't wrong. 24 years after putting the price back up (30 years after initial release), they still aren't wrong. If you've got a new Windows 10 PC or a Mac, you'll need to install the free DosBOX app before installing the game, but it works. It is the only game that works on every version of Windows ever released. It even works on a Mac of Linux box with DOSBox. Customers buying it in 2018 choose it for the same reasons as in 1994. A great game that's endless fun. We have fans who have played it for years, sometimes decades. We love our fans.

So don't expect the price to drop. We tried it. It didn't work. We aren't going there again.

Q: WHAT ELSE HAS SOFTWARE DYNAMICS DEVELOPED?

Software Dynamics started as Dynamic Information Systems in 1989. We have been focused on the user experience design of web sites, apps and products for decades. Engaging users and increasing product value are our raisons d'etre. Productivity is our passion.

We have done high profile design work for Microsoft, Time Warner, Netscape and Hewlett Packard, as well as creating our own products and consulting with startups. The designer of Inner Space is Bill Stewart, an internationally acclaimed designer best known as the inventor of homescreen widgets currently in use by over 1.2 Billion users and designer of the world's #1 top-selling utility. Bill has won international design awards over three decades, patented widely-used inventions and created some of the world's most popular software.

For more about Bill > View Bill's design portfolio