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Game Bytes Issue 02
Chessmaster 3000 - A Review
by Thom Vaught (Chess Beginner/Novice)
As I mentioned above, I am not a chess expert. I've never played in a
tournament. I also have never played a rated player. Therefore, I will
not be evaluating the challenge of the game. Someone else with more
experience will perhaps do that. I will review the game based on its
functionality (what it does), usability (how easy it is to accomplish
things), and utility (its usefulness).
Functionality:
Chessmaster 3000 (CM3k) has the functionality that most
Beginners-Intermediates would expect. However it adds some new twists.
The review of functionality is divided into sections corresponding to the
menu options available.
Game:
The game menu is standard fare for a mainstream chess program. Options
include loading/saving games and beginning new games. However there are
improvements. The Import and Export functions are nice additions. With
the import and export functions one can read/write ASCII move list files
in five different notations (Algebraic (Nc3), Coordinate (e2-e4),
Descriptive (RxB, QQ3), Long Algebraic (Nb1-c3), and Correspondence (5254
same as e2-e4)). According to the documentation, some chess databases will
apparently export ASCII move lists in a form which CM3k recognizes.
Annotation may also be added to the move list. The board position file is
simply an ASCII board which shows the position of each piece on the board.
Below is an example:
BR -- BB BQ BK BB BN BR
BP BP BP BP -- BP BP BP
-- -- BN -- -- -- -- --
-- -- -- -- BP -- -- --
-- -- -- -- WP -- -- --
-- -- -- -- -- WN -- --
WP WP WP WP -- WP WP WP
WR WN WB WQ WK WB -- WR
A Forsythe board position file may also be used. Below is an example of
the position above:
r1bqknbr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R
There are also 150 classic games with annotation. These classic games may
be loaded for playing studying.
Play:
The play menu contains options which affect the way the computer plays and
the way a person interacts with the program. The player styles option,
which controls the computer player, is very innovative. It allows a great
degree of control over the computer player. One can control how the
computer values each type of piece on the board, excluding the king. The
tendency to attack or defend can be adjusted. Also, whether the computer
goes for a material or positional advantage may be controlled. The
computer's vision, the percentage of moves which it sees, can also be
opponents which can challenge in aspects of the game at which one may not
be adept. For example, if one generally plays persons who are good at
defense, then a computer opponent may be created whose goal is to
repeatedly attack at every occasion. There are several preprogrammed
opponents which are very entertaining (Kamikaze, Defender, Chessmaster,
Nimzovich, Capablanca, Newcomer, Novice, Tarrasch). Changing player style
parameters seems to have a great affect on the computer player. There are
also may ways to modify response controls (time, search depth, etc.).
Ground rules for touching pieces and announcing check/openings are also
provided. Blindfold chess may be played where either the white, black, or
both pieces are hidden from view. CM3k has options for handling
tournaments. A tournament may be created and matches played. Once the
tournament is complete, the results may be printed.
Actions:
The action menu options has nothing new. Actions include: switching sides,
forcing moves, taking back moves, replaying moves, resigning, offering
draw, adjournment, and pause.
Mentor:
Teaching is another area in which CM3k shines. The mentor menu contains a
wealth of learning options. Advice can be gotten from CM3k about which
move would be best in the current position. Either quick and detailed
advice may be gotten. The quick advice just gives the move CM3k thinks is
best given the current position. The detailed advice gives a series of
moves along with a natural language description of the why the series is
considered to be good. For example gaining a material, positional
advantage, or simply to getting the queen out of take. Some of the advice
is kind of vague, but it is generally pretty good. A chess tutor is
provided. It is like an interactive chess book which covers everything
from how to move the pieces through combinations and general strategy.
There is a chess rater, with three quizzes which may be taken. For each
quiz, a series of 10 chess problems are presented in each. Depending on
how many questions are answered correctly, and how many guesses it took,
CM3k assigns a rating based on the United States Chess Federation's
standards. One has the option of practicing openings. This is a very good
way to memorize opening lines. It can be configured to announce each move
before it is made, or it will just watch the moves and indicate when a move
deviates from the selected opening. There seems to be many openings to
choose from. There is also the standard board setup option in order to set
up specific positions.
Look & Feel:
The look and feel menu addresses the user configurable interface options.
First there is the board display. The design of the board can be changed
which can be to 2d, 3d, or war room. The war room design is a very nice
setup. It has the board, clocks move list, capture list, annotation
window, and thinking windows all on the same screen. The 2d board is also
functional. There are options for rotating the board and showing
coordinates. A variety of chess sets are available to choose from, but the
Staunton is probably best. CM3k can be installed for 256-color low
resolution MCGA (320x200) or 16-color high resolution VGA (640x480). The
16-color is recommended. The extra colors aren't worth the loss in
resolution. Move list branching is provided. It will save all move
branches which are followed. That is to say, if branching is enabled and
moves are taken back, each line taken may be returned to at any time. This
would be great for doing in-depth analysis of a particular game. There are
sound options, don't bother.
Windows:
The windows menu controls which windows are visible at a given time. Most
are pretty standard (clocks, thinking, move list, captured pieces, best
variation, legal moves, annotation). There is the interesting VCR Controls
menu option which is used to view the game in progress. It appears awkward
at first, but works quite well.
Usability:
It has an excellent mouse interface. Most menu items have hot-keys, such
as Alt-T to take moves back. That one becomes second nature. The hot-keys
are also listed on the menus so one doesn't have to look for the manual.
Here it must be noted that a mouse is the preferred means of input. Some
of the less common functions are nearly impossible to use with the
keyboard. Once again, the higher resolution mode is recommended. It is
neat to look at the different chessboards and chess pieces in 256 colors,
but it is not very functional. Another warning, don't turn on the sound
on. Of issue to some may be the memory requirements for CM3k. It is a
real memory hog and needs about 590k free in order to run. There is no
copy protection to be found (usually it isn't too hard to find the copy
protection). It is nice to have a program from people who appear to trust
their users. Thanks go out to Software Toolworks.
There are two books which make up the documentation for CM3k. The User's
Guide contains instructions about how to use the game. It is functional,
but completely lacking in any useful description of the keyboard interface.
If one doesn't have a mouse, it will very difficult to use many parts of
this game. The Owner's Manual contains instructions on how to play chess,
a brief history of chess, a lineage of chess masters, a list of the classic
games, a set of brain teasers, a history of the program, a discussion of
algebraic notation, and a brief bibliography.
Utility:
CM3k is the most useful and complete mainstream chess program to date. It
should be noted that this reviewer has not used Zarkov or M-Chess which are
supposed to be very challenging. GNU chess is challenging enough for most
beginners, but it is not a very good learning tool. In CM3k you will find
a very challenging chess program (for beginners-novices at least), a very
friendly interface (for mouse users), and an excellent chess instructor
(mentor). This program is highly recommend for any budding Chess
enthusiasts.
Review of D-Generation, by Rob Fermier
There is a noticeable lack of quality action/arcade games for the MS-DOS
world. Although the power is there, most of the attempts at action games
are nothing more than almost straight translations of games written for
far weaker machines. Every now and then, an action game comes along
which takes advantage of the power of the modern PC. D-Generation is one
of those games, more than just a shoot-em-up but with solid action as
well.
The overall premise of D-Generation is fairly straightforward: think and
fight your way through the top 10 floors of the Genoq building in order
to deliver a secret package to the mysterious scientist, Derrida. What
exactly is in the package and what the nature of Derrida is are among the
mysteries to be solved in D-Generation. Of course, the game can be
played equally well without attempting to piece together the plot-level
puzzles of the game, but they do a lot to add atmosphere and a tense,
eerie feel to the game.
Of course, to get through the various floors, you have to solve a variety
of puzzles which are mainly variations on the theme of activity specific
triggers at the right time and in the right sequence. The puzzles can
actually get quite complex and some of the rooms require thinking about
the puzzle from different standpoints. There is a fair amount of arcade
action which is well-integrated with the puzzle solving. Biogens, the
twisted result of genetic experimentations, filter through the
ventilation system and assault the player at every corner. Not only do
they attack, but they also set off the switches and triggers just like
you do. The interaction between the Biogens and the artifacts/traps of
the room make for some of the trickiest puzzles in the game.
The puzzle solving can occasionally get repetitive and sometimes
downright frustrating. However, some of the harder puzzles block access
to optional sections of the game where extra weapons and power-ups can be
found. The combat is very smooth and quite enjoyable. In fact, one of
my strongest complaints about this game is that there isn't enough thick
fighting sequences. In the few sections where there are many attackers,
the screen quickly becomes filled with ricocheting laser bolts and
exploding Biogens! It is a real experience to charge into a room rife
with enemies and let loose with your laser blaster. Such a good job was
done on making the combats work well that it's a shame that there aren't
more heavy-combat rooms. There are enemy Biogens in most rooms, so
combat techniques tend to be more guerrilla-style diving for cover and
rapid shots rather than pure slugfest.
Also trapped in the building are many ex-employees of Genoq, stranded
when all the madness began to occur. Attempting to get these rather dim-
witted fellows out past the traps and defense systems is usually an
interesting puzzle in and of itself. Several of the people also have
useful information, and you carry on a dialog to get information out of
them. They do a good job of forwarding the plot and add a lot of
atmosphere to the game. Between the plot, which is more solid than most
of entries into the action/arcade field, and the dark, eerie skyscraper
graphics, the game achieves a very tense and suspenseful atmosphere.
Toward the end of the game, more events happen to heighten the suspense
and give a good feel of imminent doom. It's hard to say much more
without ruining the surprise, but the end-game is done very well, not
just a rehash of previous puzzles or combats.
The graphics are well done all around. The views of the city from the
Genoq building and the shape-shifting C-Generations are particularly
nice. Several of the ways our hero can die are morbidly interesting as
well (each of the Biogens kills in a uniquely different way). While D-
Generation lacks the amazing hand-painted or digitized feel of many
current entries into the PC computer game world, they do an exception job
with what they tackle. The smoothness and speed of the action is well
worth the sometimes straightforward graphics and animation.
Of course, the game has a few bad points as well, although they are not
sufficiently severe to make the game anything but enjoyable. There is
only one save game, and it is possible to put yourself in unwinnable
positions. This resulted in making my saved game completely useless at
least once in the game. I was simply lucky to have decided to make a
backup of one of my previous saved games. To be fair, there might have
been ways out of the seemingly impossible situations without backing up
to a previous saved game, but I couldn't find them. On the whole, the
programming of the game was fine, and there are even little surprises
hidden in various places (like adding Christmas trees or Jack O'Lanterns
depending on the time of year your system clock reads).
The sound is well done, but the notable lack of a soundtrack throughout
the actual game play is a definite flaw. I suppose the silence of the
building helped to build the eerie atmosphere, but I can't help but think
that a good soundtrack would have enhanced it even further. The sound
effects are fairly minimal (laser blasts, small explosions, etc.) but
done moderately well on the Adlib card.
Another problem is the length of the game. I managed to get through all
10 floors in a few nights worth of play, although I didn't solve all of
the optional puzzles and rooms. Although the quality of the puzzles and
combats on the levels was fairly high, it felt like there could have been
a lot more there. Introducing a little more variation on the elements of
a room (beyond the usual Biogens, triggers, and doors) probably would
have gained more mileage out of the basic structure of the game. I
suppose that it's better to have a short, quality game than one which
drags on interminably, but D-Generation left me still wanting more.
Not surprisingly, at times the game has a lot of the same feel as
Karateka, another excellent game by the author, Rob Cook. Although there
is relatively little overlap in the subject matter of the two games, they
both had an addictive, professional feel to them. Like Karateka, D-
Generation is a step above most action and arcade games found on the PC
market.
Furthermore, there is a playable demo of the first level of the game
available through usual BBSes and FTP sites. It was this demo that
inspired me to want to purchase the game, and I was not disappointed.
The demo does a good job of showing off the smoothness and sheer fun of
the game and is a pretty good identifier of whether or not you in
particular are likely to enjoy this game. I am strongly in favor of
demos such as this one, as they allow the buyer to get a feel for the
game before sinking the money into it and without resorting to piracy.
In summary, D-Generation is a very well-programmed and fun to play action
game. There is just as much puzzle solving as there is combat, although
the two are strongly integrated throughout the game. It has much more of
an atmosphere and plot to it than the usual shoot-em-up variety of action
games, and a little goes a long way in this regard. The graphics are
nice, not overly complex or ambitions, and extremely smooth. If you're
looking for an epic 100-hour play, this may not be quite the thing, but
it makes a good game to play when you only have a little bit of time to
squeeze in some gaming. There are few enough good action games for MS-DOS
machines that D-Generation stands out well as one of the few successful
attempts.
The game sells for about $45 in most software retail stores, although you
can probably get it for less if you hunt enough. If you like action and
puzzle solving games, I'd definitely recommend D-Generation. I had a
good time with it, and the few flaws that it has are more than made up
for by the sheer entertainment value of the game.
EcoQuest - The Search for Cetus
by Sierra On-Line
Reviewed by Vic Witek
EcoQuest is an adventure game form Sierra On-Line, but not the
type adventure the public has come to expect. Rather than
dungeons and dragons, spacecraft and time warps, or the solitary
adventurer, EQ revolves around a 12 year old named Adam and a
befriended dolphin named Delphineus.
The title sums up the approach to the game. It is ecologically
oriented in an ocean setting and there is a well defined goal of
locating and rescuing Cetus, a large Sperm Whale. It seems that
Cetus has disappeared and all the creatures that depended on him
for protection are now helpless.
Adam's father is an ecologist so our hero is acquainted with the
ocean and many of the creatures within it. He is also a fully
qualified SCUBA diver.
The game begins after Adam and his father have rescued Delphineus
from an abandoned fishing net. Delphineus is injured and it is
during his recovery that he and Adam become very trusting of each
other. So trusting that Delphineus begins to talk to Adam. A
talking dolphin? It doesn't stop there. Throughout the game
Delphineus appears when Adam is in need of a clue to help matters
progress.
When Delphineus has fully recovered from his fishing net ordeal,
he and Adam set forth to find Cetus. Their first encounter is
with a luxury liner that is littering the ocean with all sorts of
refuse. Here as in other parts of the game Adam must pick up the
litter and garbage before other actions are allowed to take
place. Once past the liner, ours heroes must pass through a
labyrinth of giant kelp (seaweed) and enter into the wondrous
city of Elura inhabited by a multitude of sea creatures. Most
need help in one way or another and Adam is more than happy to
oblige.
One creature that Adam meets while in Elura is the Oracle who
tells of the prophecy of the destruction of the ocean environment
by man and the young human child that will save Elura from this
ultimate destruction. As the story continues, different elements
of the prophecy become apparent.
Another encounter deals with a fisherman who Adam instructs on
how to protect sea life from the rotating propeller of the
fishing boat. Eventually Adam finds a sunken mini-sub, a seeping
undersea oil well, the remains of a pirate , and a not too
inviting cave. All of these locations contain puzzles to solve,
but the cave offers a special challenge in overcoming the
darkness. Continuing the search for Cetus Adam and Delphineus
come upon barrels of toxic waste indiscriminately placed by
humans. Of course Adam has the ability to take care of this
problem, too.
Eventually, Cetus is found and he's not in any condition to
protect the undersea kingdom until after Adam renders assistance.
It's about this time that Delphineus is captured by a villainous
Manta Ray driven to wicked behavior by toxic wastes under the
sea. Once the Manta Ray is dispatched and Delphineus is rescued
the games winds down in a very "rewarding" manner.
EcoQuest is very delightful in the way the plot unfolds. The
graphics (VGA) and animation are equal to or better than any
release from Sierra. The music is very pleasant and sound
effects blend very well with the story line. Although EQ uses
Sierra's point and click interface, it was not detrimental to
this game. The puzzles are not mind-bending, but neither are
they dead giveaways. EQ seems to be targeted toward a younger
audience, but even the experienced game-playing adult can find
enjoyment in this adventure.
Recommended as part of your gaming library.
Sierra On-Line - EcoQuest. The Search for Cetus
VGA or EGA versions separately available.
MS-DOS 3 1/2" or 5 1/4"
Supports major sound boards
Suggested retail $59.95
Coming soon for Mac and Amiga
Gunship 2000
Microprose
640K, hard disk, VGA/MCGA required (EGA version available)
Reviewed on 386-33 with Soundblaster
by David Masten
Gunship 2000, an update of the very popular Gunship, is a worthy game on
its own. From the handsome box photo, to the thick informative manual,
comprehensive ordnance, air/ground forces, sound/joystick/mouse support,
all the way through the constant improvements available by BBS, this game
is representative of Microprose's thoroughness.
You fly one of a choice of six different US helicopters, either in a solo
flight, or as commander of a flight of five. Missions can be flown as
either training, single, or as part of a "campaign" (flight only). Your
career (and those of your flight members) is tracked with mission scores,
medals and promotions. Gameplay is further enhanced by the prerequisite of
a commission before being assigned a flight command, and various higher
ranks for clearance to command the advanced copters.
In each mission, you are given a primary and secondary objective. Single
helicopter missions are either: Point Attack, or Search & Destroy, where
you first have to find the target. Flight missions add: Tactical Support
(pick-up/drop troops/cargo), Search & Rescue, and Recon. Certain copters
are required for some missions, such as a Blackhawk transports for S&R.
Targets are usually land-based, but may be naval. For each mission, you
choose the copter(s), weapons, and fuel and chaff/flare load. In flight
command, you can break the flight into two groups and assign different
objectives and flight paths to the groups. You then lead one group, and
remotely command the other.
The campaign consists of a series of missions, where some types of
aircraft/ordnance may be unavailable. Win a mission, and the enemy is
pushed back, as symbolized by size of the "red zone" on a map. Lose a
mission and the reverse happens. Unfortunately, the campaign is no more
sophisticated than that. It would have been nicer if the missions were
more causal. For example, rescue a pilot lost in the previous mission, or
reduce the enemies air cover by neutralizing an airbase.
I won't enumerate the comprehensive list of ordnance and allied/enemy
forces. There are so many of the latter that an on-line help was added to
supplement the manual. I'll add that enemy fixed wing aircraft
occasionally make an appearance, much to your chagrin.
Graphics
========
I found the movement a little slow, but certainly playable, on a 386-16.
In target-rich environments, slow response to keyboard input can be a
problem. Everything is just fine on the 386-33. Terrain graphics are well
done but, as often the case with sims, it's hard to gauge distance above
ground without looking at the instruments. Flying through canyons (and
even through tunnels!) adds some variety and challenge. Unfortunately,
night graphics are the usual same as day, but darker shadings with lights.
Cockpits are different for each copter and are also well executed. Wait
till you get to use the, yet to be actually built, Comanche LHX with its
color map display! At the risk of monotony, ground vehicles are also well
done, nicer than in Falcon 3.0. A few cinematic scenes help to set the
mood, though slightly slow to load on lesser machines.
Surprisingly, the renditions of the different copters are only fair. You
will be able to distinguish them, but they are not as attractive as the
aircraft in Chuck Yeager's Air Combat. Various out of cockpit views are
provided. Most often I use the target or missile views to watch the
impending carnage, or the chase view behind copters in the second group,
to keep abreast of their situation.
A VCR option is also included. One can also replay a mission from any
point, although it will not affect your score. I didn't find the VCR as
useable or useful as in CYAC or Falcon 3.0, but it's still a nice feature.
Sound
=====
Like most aspects of the game, the sound support scores high. The
digitized voice of your copilot/gunner (CP/G) notifies you of targets,
incoming missiles, fuel condition and damage taken. The sound of weapons,
explosions and the rotor are all reasonably conveyed through a
Soundblaster. The only music is in the title screen.
Manual
======
A typical Microprose thorough job. Besides the operating instructions, it
includes a history of helicopters, a tutorial on helicopter flight and a
database on the games weapons, copters, and other forces. Part of the
reason I bought the game was to learn about copters. Through both the
gameplay, and especially the manual, I feel this was accomplished.
Gameplay and Simulation
=======================
Gunship 2000 gives you a variety of configuration options that allow you
to tailor the game to your ability. Included are: enemy proficiency,
realistic or easy flight (lift only affected by collective), no crash-
landings, collision avoidance, wind, visibility. You can have your CP/G
control the weapons and/or countermeasures, or nothing at all. But there
is a cost to all these options, as they effect scoring. You have the
choice of a Central Europe theatre, where you are up against the Soviet
Blocs finest, or an easier Persian Gulf scenario. Note the Gulf scenario
is not Desert Storm, the enemy actually puts up a fight! Future scenarios
may be offered. The end result is you can set the levels to avoid early
frustration, then progressively make the sim harder and more realistic, as
you progress. Have a particularly disastrous mission? No problem, just use
the ignore option and it disappears from your record. An in flight map,
which pauses the game while you consult it, also helps.
Having no previous knowledge of copters, I cannot authoritatively comment
on the realism of the flight dynamics. Instead I defer to a CGW reviewer,
and Apache pilot, who had some negative comments about the modeling of the
banking, climbing and acceleration characteristics. I noted that the
copters can climb more quickly than indicated in the reference section.
Further, I didn't notice differences in the dynamics of the helicopters.
Differences seemed to be limited to the available types and maximum load
of ordnance, with some models like the Defender being fairly worthless.
Real world techniques like terrain masking are effective, but are
difficult to control with the unrealistic climb performance of the
copters. Your greatest friend will be the unrealistically high
effectiveness of all the ordnance. Your cannon will almost always score,
with two shots at most needed to destroy targets (other than
ships/buildings?). Other guided weapons will also be about 100% effective
except when you are forced to break targeting to avoid incomings. But this
happens very often, so you will be quite relieved when you finally get to
fly a Longbow Apache with its fire-and-forget MMW Hellfire missiles.
Weapons that requiring aiming are hampered by the high climb rate, I often
found I had climbed a few hundred feet when trying to line up a rocket
salvo. The RWR gives you a 360 degree god's eye view of all forces and
structures. In the real world, it only displays active radar sites.
Summary
=======
As is the case here, I sometimes feel Microprose opts a little too
strongly for gameplay over realism, and masks the shortcomings in the
simulation behind their excellent manuals. Having said that, I still find
much to commend in this game, and highly recommend it to any flight sim
fan. It's a nice change of pace from "flying" high performance jets. It
continues in the Microprose tradition of combining excellent gameplay,
fine graphics, and reasonable simulation.
By the numbers:
Graphics: 8.5
Sound: 8
Manual: 9
Playability: 9
Realism: 6.5
Overall: 8.5 A very nice effort.
Review: Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design Signature Edition
Author: Thom Vaught
Overview:
The newest Accolade golf offering in the Jack Nicklaus line is obviously
an attempt to compete with Links which has been the premier golf game for
some time now. I believe, as with most things, it succeeds in some areas
and fails in others. This review is organized into several parts. Those
parts being the Overview, Requirements, Likes, Dislikes, The Game,
Comparisons, Summary. I have played the following computer golf games
which I feel qualified to compare to the Jack Nicklaus Signature Edition
(JNSE): Links and PGA Tour (PGAT).
Requirements:
VGA
640 K
Hard Drive
16 MHz or greater AT class machine (Recommended)
Likes:
+ Course designer
+ Computer competition
+ Skins game, round play, and tournament play
+ Ball physics (backspin and bounces seem realistic)
+ Golfer statistics
+ Golf course high-score boards
Dislikes:
- Copy protection
- Mouse interface
The Game:
The game, once you get past the annoying three level wheel copy
protection, is very good in most respects. Actually you only need the
code wheel for the golf game executable, not the course designer. Thanks
Accolade (sarcasm noted for the humor impaired). Below I will discuss
the two programs which make up JNSE.
In the golf game itself, up to 4 players (human or computer) may compete
in a round of golf or skins game. A round of play is your normal 18
holes of golf. In a skins, each hole is worth a given amount of money.
If one or more golfers tie on a hole, the money is moved on to the next
hole. Once the players and type of game has been chosen, a course is
chosen and it is off to the clubhouse. From the clubhouse you can change
courses, players, type of game. Also, you can visit the driving range,
play a hole, practice a green, view the course, view course records, play
a round. If round play, rather than skins game, was selected, you can
start a tournament consisting of 1 to 5 rounds with other computer
golfers competing which are not in your active golfing party.
Once a round has begun, you are presented with an overhead view of the
current hole. At this screen you can view the hole or use an auto caddy.
The view hole option allows you to view the hole from any point within
the scope of the hole (not that useful, but nice graphical fluff). The
auto caddy on the other hand can be very useful. It allows you to
measure distance on the golf course. It can be invaluable in selecting a
club on a hole with a short fairway to the first dogleg, especially if a
hazard is just beyond the short fairway.
After the overhead view, you are golfing. Readily accessible are
functions for selecting clubs, aiming the shot, rotating the golfer,
selecting options. Club selection is relatively straightforward. Aiming
the shot can be done in one of two ways. At the top of the window is a
visual indication of the direction in which the ball is aimed in relation
to direction your golfer is facing. At the edges of the screen are two
poles representing the extent of your vision to the left and right. By
clicking on one of those poles, your golfer will be rotated to the right
or left. The ball is represented by a golf ball, and if the flag is
within the view slice, it will also be visible. You also have a couple
of the traditional arrow keys with which the shot may be aimed. The
options list contains such things as (club list, overhead view, replay
last shot, reverse replay last shot, take mulligan (once per round from a
tee shot), overhead view of green, terrain grid, return to clubhouse,
etc.). Conspicuously missing is the save game option. It would be nice
to have the option of saving the game without having to return to the
clubhouse and being prompted to save or not. I would like to say that
most all of the functions are quickly accessible using the keyboard.
Most options have a key assigned to them which is displayed beside the
option. A power bar like PGAT is used in making shots to determine
power, hooking, and slicing. Other information, such as wind/grade,
distance to cup, par, etc. is also displayed.
All of the graphics are very good including the golfer animations. Also,
the sound is adequate. No birds chirping, but I never used that option
in the other golf games anyway. The two courses included (English Turn,
and Sherwood) are very good and show off the strengths of the course
designer. While not as detailed as some of the Links courses, they
display the capability of the course designer to produce a challenging
and believable golf course. Don't get me wrong there is enough detail,
but there could always be more.
The course designer is a real gem. I really enjoy playing with it. You
start by copying on of the currently available plots of land and
modifying it to fit your needs. You can alter the terrain (building hill
or depressions) or composition (bunker, cart path, rough, green, water,
fairway) of the plot. You can also place objects on the plot (clubhouse,
trees, rocks, golf carts, etc.) The surrounding horizon of the course
can be changed with the painting portion of the program. Once the
terrain is generally to your liking, you can rout the course a hole at a
time. Each hole can be altered in the same way as the plot (landscaping,
composition, and objects). You can also place up to 5 pin positions
which will be chose randomly and the place for each type of tee. It
places tee positions, rough, fairway, green, and the first pin
automatically, but these can be altered. You can zoom in on the hole to
edit the hole at the pixel level. Once you have the hole where you think
it may be playable, just do it. There is the option to play a single
hole from any spot within the scope of the hole. You can also edit the
wind conditions of the for the course. For each hole and the course
itself you can write a quote which describes the hole or course, possible
giving hints. The course designer is a very nice. I cannot possibly
describe all the functions available, so I'll stop here.
Comparisons:
Below are favorable and unfavorable comparisons to other golf games I
have played.
Links gets the nod for mouse interface. Most functions are easily
accessible with Links, such as saving the game. It is a little more
difficult to access some functions in JNSE.
I haven't decided I like most, the power bar in JNSE and PGAT or the
swing indicator in Links. Both have their advantages JNSE gives more
precise control over the power applied to the shot, however, Links seems
to feel more realistic. The view of the Links swing indicator is pretty
subjective.
I like the rotating 3d Green in PGAT and it had been included in JNSE.
I also like the ball tracking feature in PGAT which is absent in the
others.
In JNSE you cannot edit your stance and club facing as in Links.
Links courses seem to have more detail than those that come with JNSE.
Of course, the JNSE courses can be edited with the course designer.
In JNSE, a maximum of 4 human golfers can participate unlike Links and
PGAT.
JNSE has the most annoying copy protection of the three. Next would be
PGAT. Finally Links which has the best copy protection of all, trust in
their users.
I like the way you aim shots in JNSE better than either of the other two.
The Auto Caddy in JNSE is a nice feature which is absent in the others.
Summary:
I like JNSE better than any of the other golf games on the market.
This is because of the computer competition, game variety, number of
included courses, and course designer. If you always play computer golf
with a group of people, you might enjoy Links more. It has better
graphical detail and allows for more human golfers to participate. I
enjoy both Links and JNSE. However, each have options the other should
have. So, go for the features that are important to you. Below are the
changes I would like to see made to JNSE in future editions:
o Better interface
o Dump the copy protection
o 3D rotating model of the green
o Adjustable stance for golfers
o More human players allowed
Review of Joe and Mac - Super Nintendo by Data East
by Ross Erickson
I just had to tell you about this. Normally, I'm a pretty sophisticated
gamer that spends most of his time on his PC. I bought the SEGA Genesis
machine primarily so I could play John Madden Football '92 when I needed
a quick diversion, and a Super Nintendo....so I could get some sleep....
my 5-year old wouldn't leave me alone!! "DAD, I want to play Mario,...
Mario... MARIO!!!" I thought I was going to lose it. So last Christmas,
we sprung for ANOTHER console in the house, and there was peace...for a
while.
Well, Mario has gotten a little old, so the good folks at Data East have
suggested I try a new, slightly demented, form of Mario. This fun little
gem I discovered was Joe and Mac. Let me tell you about it. Better yet,
let me 5 year old tell you about it.
GB: So, Jordan (Erickson), tell us about Joe and Mac. What kind of
game is this?
JE: Well, you see, (ed. why do all 5 year olds start a sentence this
way??), Joe and Mac are these prehistoric dudes who have to fight
there way past all these other caveman bad guys, Pterydactls (sp?)
elephants, and all sorts of other creatures. It's pretty fun!
GB: So, do you like this game? Is it fun?
JE: Oh yeah! It's a blast. I really like to play with my dad, even
though he's not very good. (ed. This is an actual transcript...)
It's a two-player game too, so one can be Joe and the other can be
Mac.
GB: How do you beat up the bad guys?
JE: Well, you see, at first all you have is this big club, and when get
to a bad guy or a bird or something like that, you just club him.
After a few clubs on the head he falls over and sometimes he turns
into a drumstick and you get an extra life point for that. When you
beat up a small dinosaur or something like that, they turn into a big
ham (ed. I'm NOT making this up!) and that gives you even more points.
Sometimes you'll see a bad cave-dude carrying this big egg.
GB: What's do you do with the egg?
JE: Well, you see, you just club the guy, and he drops the egg. Then you
beat the egg and it cracks open and inside is another type of weapon.
You can get bones, boomerangs, and fireballs to throw. I like fire-
balls the best. And, oh yeah, you can also get these stone tires that
you throw and they roll over anybody in the way.
GB: Is Joe and Mac very hard?
JE: Well, not really, but I'm pretty good. It's pretty hard for my dad
though.
GB: What else can you tell us about Joe and Mac?
JE: Well, you see, there's these special eggs that if you crack them open
a good bird flys out and picks you up and takes you to a secret level
where you can get a lot of hams and extra lives and stuff. And, oh
yeah, you also get to pick up this key that lets you into other secret
levels to get extra lives, and other stuff. Oh, and when you finish a
level, this girl comes out from the side and kisses you.. Wooo ooo. I
like that, except when green hair comes out and kisses me. YUCK.
GB: How many levels are there in Joe and Mac?
JE: I dunno, but there's a lot. I haven't finished 'em all yet, but I'm a
lot farther than my dad (ed. Do you sense a recurring theme here?).
I've gotten past the icecave level quite a few times, but there's lots
more to it that I haven't done yet.
GB: What about bosses? Are there bosses in Joe and Mac.
JE: OH Yeah, I forgot. Yeah, the bosses are the coolest. At the first
level you have to kill this huge dinosaur, then a huge maneating
plant, then a huge bird, and also a giant elephant. I haven't seen
them all yet, but I'm pretty good. Are you really going to write this
down?
GB: Yes, Jordan. Anything else you wanted to say about the game? How about
the graphics and the sound?
JE: The graphics are just awesome and the sound is good too. When you come
to the first boss, it's a huge dinosaur and it makes this really loud
roar. I was scared the first time, but not anymore.
GB: So, you think Joe and Mac is a good game?
JE: Oh yeah, it's a good game. It's a little bit easy though, but I'm not
done yet. My brother Taylor who's 2 can even play the first level, but
he's pretty amazing. He can even play Mario. Dad can't though.
GB: Thanks Jordan, you're a great interview!
JE: Thanks. ..... Are we gonna get some more Super Nintendo games soon?
I'm not even going to try to top that except to say that I've had a real
blast playing this game with my boys. Jordan is quick to remind me that
he's a talented video gamer and I'm a schlep-rock by comparison, but it's
been great to enjoy something like this. For experienced cartridge, plat-
form gamers, you may find Joe and Mac a tad on the easy side and quick to
finish, but you'll have fun doing it. This makes a great weekend rental.
If you can, play it with your kids. Loads of fun!
Nova 9 Review IBM PC version.
No Copy Protection
VGA/EGA supported. Roland/Soundblaster/Adlib supported.
By Jason Kuo
Nova 9 ... What is it?:
Nova 9 is classified as an "arcade" game. In this game, you pilot the most
technologically advanced tank called the "Raven ][". From a first person
perspective, you need to destroy the enemies which have spread out on 9
planets. After destroying a number of enemies, "bosses" will appear, and
these "bosses" are much tougher to destroy. This game is the sequel to
Stellar 7, but there are significant changes in Nova 9 that make it different
from it's predecessor. And you didn't have to play Stellar 7, to play Nova 9.
Documentation:
The Documentation for this game is adequate in that it lists the standard
keyboard commands and gives a short story of you vs. Gir Draxon, the "ultimate
bad guy" who you defeated in Stellar 7. Some vital information is
given to you while playing the game, which can be annoying since you may be
occupied blasting away enemies and can't take your eyes away to look at the
text on top of the screen. And since you can't have the game repeat what it's
just said, you may have to play that level again, just to find out what
you've missed. However the intermissions are nice, though a bit repetitive
(in terms of repeating the same graphic sequences), when you get your tank
upgraded and can see the damage done on your tank.
Graphics and Sounds:
The graphics are the standard fare in the VGA world. Nice scanned graphics
for the intermissions, and smooth animation with the enemies, which are
represented in polygon graphics. One can also switch to a third person
perspective to play the game, which is helpful in some circumstances. The
music is quite appropriate for each level that you play, when you have a
sound card such as the Adlib or Soundblaster. No digitized voices like
Stellar 7 though.
Playability - Nova 9 vs. Stellar 7:
This is where everyone says, "Well, is it good or isn't it?" Nova 9 probably
falls in the middle. First let's take into consideration, those who have played
Stellar 7. The mobility in Stellar 7 was more like a hovercraft, but in Nova
9, your tank is much slower. Also, when going backwards in a left or right
direction, the "1" key and "3" key are reversed. So pressing 3 would cause
you to go backwards and left. It would have been nice for Dynamix to let the
player define the keys since Stellar 7 players, and probably new players as
well, will be unaccustomed to these switch of keys, as it feels unnatural.
Another change is firing. Firing seems to be a bit slower, and shots
sometimes misfire, which can be hazardous to your tank when you fire an
explosive shot that unintentionally explodes right in front of you thereby
damaging your shields.
What's NEW:
In Stellar 7, your tank had a set of "special weapons" such as larger
projectiles, firing more than one shot, and faster shots, as well as cloaking
ability. In Nova 9, you must pick up these "special weapons" which float
around after you defeat certain enemies. These "special weapons" or "power
ups" include : increased mobility, increased speed, explosive shots, faster
shots, multiple shots, and more powerful shots to name a few. Also, on
certain planets, there are teleport pods, which teleport you to your home
base. And depending on the condition of your tank, you may get upgrades which
include (permanently, unlike some "power ups") : lasers, a rear view mirror,
a quicker reloader, increased speed, and guided missiles.
Strategies - (Don't read further if you don't want clues!)
Unlike Stellar 7, Nova 9 incorporates a lot more strategy in dealing with the
enemies, especially the "bosses". So just firing until you turn blue will not
destroy the "bosses" in Nova 9. Here are some examples:
Planet 1:
You go against a "bulldozer" who's front end is impervious to your shots. The
best way to deal with this enemy is to get this "boss" on the top of your
radar, and then turn 90 degrees. When he comes charging, accelerate forward,
then rotate toward him and you can usually get two shots on him. If you can
guide the "bulldozer" into a "force field area" that protects a power up, the
boss will destroy the force field, and you will be able to get a "power up"
which will regenerate your shields.
Planet 2:
You go against a "hovercraft" that fires "guided missiles" at you. The best
way to take on this enemy is to have "the multiple shots power up" and fire in
its general direction since this "boss" will continue to circle around you.
Here you have a chance to teleport and upgrade your tank. There is also an
"invulnerability power up" here as well.
Planet 3:
One of the more tougher levels. Here you go against a "metal lizard" who's
hide is too tough for your shells to penetrate. So the only time you can
damage this boss is to shoot at the "open bay" when it launches it's
projectiles. Here lasers fire quicker, so you will have a better chance of
hitting it's "weak spot", or you can use your regular shells which do more
damage, but in this case, you'll have to be more careful. The "weak spot" on
the "boss" is the front of the boss in case you haven't guessed this already.
By firing at the "boss's weak spot", not only will you damage the "boss" but
it will prevent the "boss" from firing it's projectiles at you. It's
recommended that you save the "invulnerability power up" from level 2 to help
you out on this level. Another helpful hint in destroying the enemies is to
place mines behind you.
Level 4:
On this level, you will see a cluster of "power ups". These "power ups"
attract your tank to the enemy that you've locked on. Use this to get the
"power up" floating up in the air beyond your normal reach. By pointing in
this general area and using the "attracter power up", your tank will jump into
the air and get the "power up" that regenerates your shields. To access the
teleport pod, you will have to destroy structures that look like tall poles to
shut down the force field. Then you can get an upgrade that will enable to
defeat the "boss" on this level, which happens to be a gigantic tank. There
is a power up here which will create a replicate of your tank, which the
enemies will usually attack. A hint for destroying the remote tanks is to get
as close as you can to them, since if you do this, their shots will fire over
you.
Level 5:
On this level, keep moving. The boss on this level is a "centipede" where
each segment you destroy will cause a connecting segment to turn into another
head. Use explosive shells and/or rapid firing to finish this one quickly.
You can also use a "electrified shield power up" to knock off the enemies
which come to attack you, by just ramming them.
Level 6:
On this level, there is a teleport pod. However you need to knock down the
force field. But the "boss" on this level, which is an "electric being" will
be chasing you down. To destroy the "boss", destroy the black structures and
pay attention to any text which appears stating that the "boss" seems to have
weakened.
This should get you going on the game, and you'll only have 3 more levels to
go. But mind you, they aren't easy. Just remember that what you may think is
useless can be helpful to you. A bigger clue is, what can damage you, can
also damage the enemy.
Overall:
Figuring out the beginning "bosses" aren't too difficult, however, taking time
to destroy these "bosses" is time consuming. Unfortunately, the game will
only allow you to restart twice at the same position. So that means playing
the game from scratch many a times. A save feature would have been useful,
or at least a "warp" where you could skip levels. Even if the creators,
Dynamix, figured that a save would have made the game too easy, they
could have at least stuck a save in the middle levels, say level 5.
The game is enjoyable, but you'll probably have to have a lot of patience to
finish the game. However for its price, around twenty five dollars, it's
value is quite nice. This will probably be a game for the die-hard Stellar 7
player, or the ever stubborn "I can beat any game" player. But for those who
haven't played Nova 9, you might want to try Stellar 7 instead, and see if you
like that. If you found Stellar 7 to be too easy, try Nova 9, you may be up
for a challenge.
So, nice attempt Dynamix, but hey, your best action game so far is Mech
Warrior, which you made for Activision even with its EGA graphics. And
further more, why'd you get rid of the "warps" in Nova 9 that you had in
Stellar 7?
Pools of Darkness
Review by Mark Bylander
Pools of Darkness is the fourth (and last) game in SSI's Forgotten
Realms series of AD&D computer games. The storyline is only slightly
connected to that of Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, and
Secret of the Silver Blades, although you will meet may characters from
those games. Players transferred from Secret of the Silver Blades will have
a distinct starting advantage over characters created in this program.
When you create your party, it is quite advantageous to have all or
mostly human characters. When you finish the game, you'll be approaching
(or past) 40th level, so you don't want to have characters who are limited
to, say, 11th level. Character generation is the same as usual. Those
who have played SSI games before know what to expect here. The computer
generates your six ability scores, and you say Yes or No. Note that there
is a modify option which is ostensibly to allow you to play a favorite
AD&D character, but which has the practical purpose of giving all of your
characters perfect scores and hitpoints.
Now you move into the game. The VGA graphics are very nice. Adlib
sounds are limited to battle sound effects, and an occasional musical
interlude during a particularly dramatic scene. After completing some
trivial work in the city of Phlan, you will go out into the countryside.
There you will meet Elminster, who has whisked you away to Limbo. When you
return to the Realms, you will find that all of the non-evil cities are
gone. There are craters where the cities once stood. The evil god Bane is
to blame. Wandering around to craters and caves, you will have several
mini-quests. One problem early on is a lack of training halls in the
early game. If you look at the map, you will see two fortresses north
of the Moonsea. The fortress to the west is populated by giants and
contains a training hall.
The basic plot is that you are trying to stop Bane's evil plot (surprise).
Bane has several servants, each of whom dwells in an outer plane. You will
need to kill the mortal minions in each of 4 cities, and then you will find
a pool of darkness leading you off to Limbo. Elminster will store all of
your items for you, as continuing through the pool will destroy most of your
items. Some items may be safely taken through a pool. These include:
Vorpal Swords, Fine Long Bows, most Rings, and non-magical Robes. Working
through the outer plane adventures, you will get Bane's powerful magic
items, which will be essential for completing your quest.
The combats in this game are very difficult. You will fight lots of
magic-using and magic-immune monsters. Actually, Bane's lieutenants are not
especially hard to kill, but the horde of monsters protecting them is very
hard to defeat.
The interface is the one that SSI players have come to know, although
the mouse routines seem to be much better than before. Over the course of
the series, SSI implemented various features which you may have missed, so
here are a few of those: You can <ALTER> the <LEVEL> of the game to make
it easier or harder; you can <FIX> from the magic menu to heal, raise, and
restore your characters; and if you <REST>, the game automatically
relearns the spells you had learned the last time.
The magic system is the same as it has been for previous SSI games. In
general, only the simplest spells are available (sorry, no Wish spells).
Also, creative use of spells is impossible. Ice Storm only damages opponents.
Some useful spells: Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Ice Storm (low damage, but
affects fire/lightning resistant monsters), Monster Summoning (in certain
parts of the game, this is less useful), Blade Barrier (priest spell--quite
nice), Meteor Swarm (make sure the party is out of line!), and Delayed
Blast Fireball (penetrates Globes of Invulnerability). I was never able to
use Cone of Cold very effectively. I always hit some of my own characters.
Hold and Charm spells are nice, but monsters will save quite often, so then
you've just wasted a round. The spell Fire Touch is undocumented, but nice.
It envelops one of your fighters in fire, enabling him or her to dish out
an extra 2-12 points of damage.
There are many nice magic items. Essential are the Vorpal sword, the
rings of electrical immunity, and the rings of blinking. The "last" battle
is probably impossible without the last two mentioned items. After foiling
Bane's plot, you have the option of going to Challenge Island, which is
quite difficult (and which must be played on the highest difficulty level).
This game marks a fitting conclusion to the first series of AD&D
adventures. Be warned, however, that the tediosity factor is very high in
some of the realms you will visit. In particular, Tanetal's realm, which
is the body of Moander from Curse of the Azure Bonds, will take a lot of
patience to complete. The final three battles against Gothmenes are
EXTREMELY difficult as well. By the way, you will get to meet Tyranthraxus
again, although only in a very brief cameo (Dispel Evil is useful). I found
the game to be very engrossing and enjoyable, despite the fact that I now
despise Iron Golems, Bits-o-Moander, and Blue Bane Minions. I highly
recommend this game for role-playing game players, especially for those who
have played the other games in the
series.
Darryl K. Barnes
Buying a Low Cost Flight Simulator: ThunderHawk, Best for Less
Question, does a combat simulator have to sell for $49.95 to $69.95
to be worth the money? I think not!!
For several years, I have been trying to find the ideal helicopter
flight/combat simulator program. I realized early on that I wanted the
program to have good graphics, lots of action and challenge and be available
at a price that was affordable on a student budget. Needless to say,
pickings were few and far between. Gunship, LHX and Gunship 2000 are all
available, all satisfying the first two requirements, but not the last
important factor, money.
Recently however things have changed with the arrival of ThunderHawk by
Virgin Games. This author first saw the ad for this game in the November
issue of a popular computer gaming magazine. It was a simple one page ad
with the usual come-ons. Well, after waiting for it to come out at a price
that did not put a strain on the wallet ($24.95 Electronic Boutique), this
author decided to give it a try. It was the best investment this author
ever made.
REVIEW
Graphics
First and foremost, you are not purchasing Wing Commander II or Secret
Weapons when you buy ThunderHawk. You will get (depending on the quality
of your monitor) good solid three dimensional representations of buildings
ground vehicles, aircraft and ships (yes I did say ships). Surface details
on the equipment is a little sparse but this only occurs when you are moving
but at a little over 190 knots who has time to count rivets. Ground detail
was uniformly sparse. No matter where you are most of the land, rivers and
lakes are flat. Except for geometrically (pyramids) shaped hills there is no
rolling landscape. Buildings and bridges where applicable, were good
representations of the real thing and reacted to your weapons fire
realistically (i.e. bombs and rockets blew things up, cannon fire did little
or know damage in short to medium bursts).
Flight Model
Semi-to-accurate representation of chopper flight (given this author's
limited knowledge of helicopter flight characteristics). One major problem
occurs in the method of controlling the aircraft. The ThunderHawk can be
controlled by either "Mouse" or "Joystick". The problem lies in the fact
that one instrument is using to control flight direction and power. In
other words you better be coordinated if you want to control this craft
with a "joystick". This author gave up and tried a "mouse". There is a
drastic difference in the feel, which makes the mouse my weapon of choice.
Game Play
First and foremost, use the simulator. It is possible to survive without
ever using it, but this author does not recommend it. Try each weapon to
get to know each one's strengths and weaknesses. This game will show you
the hazard of relying on one weapon to save yourself. The major draw of
this game is the challenge it presents. This author was drawn into the
game at every turn (somewhat like Wing Commander). You will die, but that
is the challenge. Survival is a goal, that ThunderHawk does not serve to
those without ability. Mine you surviving and mission failure is a
possibility. This author does not want to mention the number of times
that he was sent home in disgrace.
Hints
It is advisable to get to know the capabilities of the "JAMMING POD".
It will be given to the player as a default weapon. You can shoot down
enemy aircraft with unguided rockets, do not rely on missiles (the enemy
has effective chaff/flare capability). Be extremely careful of SAM sites,
they are deadly. Finally, listen to the mission briefing (I know you want
to hurry), it will save your character.
Final Shots
Buy the game, ThunderHawk is a low end ($$$.$$) winner. I hope you
will have as much fun as I did.
Timequest by Legend
There is an episode of Doctor Who in which an evil time traveler has six
copies of the Mona Lisa made, and then bricks them up inside a castle wall
during the Renaissance. That way, they are properly aged and indistinguishable
from the original when he retrieves them in modern times.
This is the basic structure of much of Legend's second game, Timequest.
Repeatedly, the player must set up situations centuries in advance of their
intended effect.
Ironically, the goal of the game is to foil a madman's plans to alter
history. Lt. Vettenmeyer, the villain of the piece, is a renegade member
of the Time Corps and an old-fashioned science-fiction bad guy, bent on
preventing the Time Corps from ever having come into existence. Naturally,
he has informed the Time Corps of his intentions, and sent them a
clue: his interkron (time machine), reprogrammed to take him into the past,
with the coordinates of six major cities in nine historical periods
still in it. As a private in the Time Corps, the player must go to all
the times and places Vettenmeyer visited, seconds after he left, and set
things right.
Ten alterations to history are listed in the documentation, from the
premature death of Julius Caesar to the Axis winning World War II, with
detours to the Spanish conquest of Mexico, Genghis Khan's siege of Peking,
and court intrigue in the legendary Baghdad of Haroun Al-Rashid. But, although
only ten locales were subject to Vettenmeyer's meddling, he went to many
others simply to scrawl graffiti on the walls. Of the 45 combinations of
year and city, only three are left unused, and all that are used are useful.
The user interface is exactly that seen in Legend's previous game,
Spellcasting 101. It is a souped-up text adventure, an extension of the
experiments that Infocom was doing before its untimely demise. Commands
are typed in or, optionally, chosen from a series of scrolling menus using a
mouse. One window on the screen shows your dialogue with the game. Another
shows a picture - by default a picture of your current location with
spot animation, it can be changed to show a written description (the one
invoked by the "look" command), or a map, or your current inventory. A final
window holds a compass rose displaying the directions in which you can travel,
as well as a few other push-button controls. The picture window is by far the
most useful enhancement. By clicking on it with the mouse, the player can
examine visible objects without typing. Likewise, clicking on the map window
causes travel.
However, most players will use the keyboard more than the mouse. In
theory, the scrolling menus can be used to enter any command in the game,
but they are simply too long and cumbersome for prolonged use. Occasionally,
calling them up will provide hints - for instance, if you talk to another
character, the menu will display all the nouns that character is willing
or able to discuss. But other than that, they might as well not be there.
Even the programmers realize this, and thoughtfully provide an option
to get rid of the menus, leaving more room for the text window.
Incidentally, it is possible to play the game in all-text mode. It takes
a lot of guts to include a feature like that in today's market.
Timequest was designed and written by Bob Bates, who wrote "Sherlock: the
Riddle of the Crown Jewels" and "Arthur: the Quest for Excalibur" for Infocom.
As might be expected from these precedents, Timequest is quite detailed,
well-researched, and even, to some degree, historically accurate. It would be
dishonest to make too great claims of accuracy, though. In some cases, dates
are fudged slightly to fit Bates' master plan, and the game is rife with
fanciful and stereotypical images. In addition, the author went to great
lengths to insert cameo appearances of as many famous historical figures as
possible, regardless of probability. (Putting William Shakespeare on Sir
Francis Drake's crew comes to mind.) But a surprising amount of the material
is, if not confirmed accurate, at least arguably possible (as Bates himself
argues in the documentation), and it's fun to run into so many recognizable
people unexpectedly.
For all that, I commend the historical content of the game for the way
it is presented. History, as most of us learn it, consists of many separate
strands, occasionally touching but not in any way simultaneous. In contrast,
Timequest is built on a vision of global history. In any of the nine years
you can visit, you can see the fate of various countries and observe their
development in parallel. It had never occurred to me before that Genghis Khan
was contemporary with the Magna Carta, for instance.
But don't think that the game is primarily educational. If that were the
author's intent, it would be much more historically accurate and much less
enjoyable. Like all good text adventures, it is primarily a game of puzzles,
many of them centered around time travel. It is the time travel puzzles that
require the greatest degree of insight, and are therefore the most satisfying.
In particular, there is a whole series of tasks dealing with Charlemagne's
crown that is one of the most convoluted and beautiful sub-quests I have seen
yet. Since history consists of peoples' actions, much of the game consists of
interacting with people, with a few mechanical puzzles and even a maze thrown
in to keep things interesting.
Fans of consistency in time-travel will be pleased to hear that there are
no self-creating objects in the game, and only one scene (the climax) in
which you meet yourself. Most of the paradoxes of time travel are taken care
of by the limitations of the interkron. It is pre-programmed to take you
to various places at various years, but within each terminus, you cannot
go back in time. If you leave Rome 44 BC at 1:25, it will be 1:26 next time
you return. Future events are altered only when enough time has passed at
the relevant terminus to make the change permanent. For instance, if you go to
Rome 44 BC and leave before Caesar dies a seemingly natural death, you're fine.
If you stick around until he dies, then, the minute you enter the interkron,
Caesar's successor is chosen without the intrigue that follows assassination,
Rome remains strong and united for centuries after its scheduled fall, the
face of Europe is changed, the Time Corps is never founded, and the game is
over.
This makes for a much freer approach to time travel than most games,
which give you one chance to get things right or be lost to the void.
You can visit and re-visit the 42 locales as you please in your pursuit
of the ten goals (and the eleventh goal of tracking down Vettenmeyer).
This comes as a breath of fresh air in an era dominated by story-driven
games with linear plots and therefore limited options.
On MS-DOS systems, graphics are beautifully rendered in hi-res, 16-color
EGA with dithering so fine that most people mistake for VGA. Obsolete
graphics cards are also supported. Occasional music is provided via the
usual assortment of sound cards. The initial theme music is uninspiring,
but some of the period pieces are quite atmospheric, especially the music
that fades in gradually at the Academy outside Rome. It still feels funny to
have music in a text-based game, though - sort of like reading a book with
a soundtrack. Additional digitized sound effects are provided via the PC
internal speaker. These sound even funnier than the music. I suppose it's
necessary to add such frills to sell games these days, but they add next to
nothing to Timequest.
Not that it needs much added to it. The puzzles and the plot are
substantive and intricate enough to sustain the game, and the parser is
easily the best around (especially when you consider how much competition
there is). I recommend it highly for people who like to think, and who
find the sudden insight that makes everything fit into place preferable to
flashy special effects.
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ Game ³ Wolfenstein 3-D by ID Software ³
³ ³ Distributed by Apogee Software (1-800-GAME-123) ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Cost ³ $35 for three missions, $50 for six ³
ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍØÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵
³ Machine ³ ù 8088/8086 (XT) û 80286 (AT) û 80386/80486 ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Graphics³ ù CGA ù EGA û VGA ù SVGA ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Sound ³ û PC Speaker û AdLib û Soundblaster û Soundblaster Pro ³
³ ³ û Disney Sound Source ù Roland ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Control ³ û Keyboard û Mouse û Joystick û Gravis GamePad ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Memory ³ û EMS û XMS ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Size ³ 1.2 MB for Mission 1 ³
ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍØÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵
³ Other ³ Rated PC-13 (Profound Carnage) ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
Reviewed by Ron Dippold
Anyone who has played the incredibly addictive _Castle Wolfenstein_ game
and it's sequel for the old Apple ][ can remember the addiction this game
inspired. It used a top view of each room and the graphics were less than
impressive, but the playability more than made up for it.
ID Software (_Commander Keen_, _Duke Nukum_) asked themselves what would
happen if we got a first-person view, and this game is the result. You are
B.J. Blazkowicz, terminal action seeker. On your way to steal the secret
plans for Operation Eisenfaust in Castle Hollehammer, you've been captured
by the Nazis and imprisoned in Castle Wolfenstein. It's up to you to
escape so you can continue your mission. You've just killed a guard with a
knife and you've got his gun and ammo. Now there are only 10 levels to
go...
The first thing to note is that where _Castle Wolfenstein_ was a strategy
game with arcade elements, this is an arcade game with strategy elements.
Don't look to find the full _Castle Wolfenstein_ bit here or you'll be
disappointed. Just lose yourself in the action.
And what action is is! ID has done an outstanding job of writing a 3D
engine. Movement is extremely smooth. Walls are texture mapped, and the
tapestries, tables, trees, cages, and other objects are well done. They
get blocky as you approach them closely, but that's a concession to speed
and doesn't detract from the game.
The game itself is fairly simple. You go through the corridors and rooms
of the Castle looking for the elevator to the next floor. On your way you
run into three main enemies: regular soldiers, SS agents (harder to kill,
and with better guns), and dogs (German Shepherds of course). That's not
the entire list, but I won't spoil it for you... They'll be doing their
best to kill you if they see you or if you attract attention by firing your
gun. So take them out with your knife, gun, machine gun, or BIG machine
gun as you find them. Don't let them sneak up on you. Choose one of four
difficulty levels from pathetically easy to extremely hard.
You can gather items along the way to restore your health, give you more
ammo, a better weapon, another life, or just give you a better score. Look
for the secret doors in the walls. You acquire better weapons as you go
along. However, you need to weigh the effectiveness of the weapon against
your supply of ammo. Sure, the Gatling gun really mows 'em down, but can
you afford all the ammo it uses? Because if you run out of ammo, you have
to stab people with your knife, and you probably all know the joke about
bringing a knife to a gun fight.
I don't think it's possible to emphasize enough here how fast and smooth
the graphics actually are. Instead of the standard 3D dungeon routine
where you look in one direction, then turn left and all of a sudden you're
looking left, you actually turn to the left, and you can stop your rotation
at any point. If you've seen "Ultima Underworld" you have an example,
except that the graphics aren't quite as detailed, and as a consequence
they're much faster. It's quite exhilarating, especially with a large
screen. There have even been numerous reports from players of queasiness
and motion sickness after turning too fast. There's also an option to let
you narrow the amount of screen used in exchange for faster animation on
less powerful machines or machines with slow video cards.
As mentioned, the graphics are a bit blocky, but fairly detailed. There
are views of the soldiers with their backs turned, drawing a weapon,
shooting at you, lying dead, marching by sideways, running, etc., and dogs
running towards you, away from you, sideways, dead, jumping up to take a
chunk out of your throat... There's been no effort spared here.
If you have a Soundblaster or Disney Sound Source you're in for a treat.
The Germans yell things at you (and scream when you kill them), and your
guns make quite a sound. The dogs bark when they come after you. If you
have any sound card (including AdLib) the theme music adds to the
atmosphere and if you have a Soundblaster Pro you get stereo.
Now, about the PC-13 rating (Profound Carnage)... This may or may not be
something you want the kiddies playing. The guards and dogs spray blood as
you take them down. Skeletons make up quite a bit of the scenery, and
there's a lot of blood lying around. For a real treat, try running over a
pool of blood when your health drops below 10%. Frankly, your child has
probably seen it all on TV or at the movies, but keep it in mind.
On the negative side, I would like to see a few more opponents, and maybe a
few more weapons or things to play with. The other six episodes definitely
introduce more opponents (zombies, for instance), but in the spirit of the
original, I think grenades would be nice. In addition, I blazed through
this castle surprisingly fast. However, the next episodes are longer and
harder, and I still haven't made it through this one on the "Death
Incarnate" setting, nor have I found all the secret doors.
What's the overall verdict? There's no surprise that this is the hottest
download on many BBS systems and the talk of UseNet. I LOVE this game.
The feeling as you round a corner at full speed and blow away three guards
and an SS who are firing at you, then quickly pivot to take out the guy
coming up from behind is indescribable. The anticipation as you open each
door and wonder what's waiting behind it is intense. Sure it may be
decadent, but who cares? As I mentioned, the movement can actually give
you motion sickness.
The little touches are good as well. There's a portrait of your
character's face at the bottom of the screen which changes depending on
your state of health. As you decline, he acquires a black eye, bloody
nose, bleeding lip, cuts, etc. When you die he slumps forward. If you
watch carefully, however, you pick up other things. The expression of
maniacal glee on his face when you pick up one of the big machine guns is
priceless. There's even a secret level for you to discover.
Highly recommended if violence doesn't offend you.
I'd like to mention Apogee's distribution system here. They aren't your
average game company - you won't find their software at CompUSA. Rather,
they've hit on the brilliant idea of releasing games in trilogies. The
first game in the series is shareware, and the rest you buy when you
register the game. This means that all you do to get the game is call your
local bulletin board systems, or if you have Internet access, ftp to
wuarchive.wustl.edu, and look in /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS. Look for the file
1WOLF3D.ZIP or #1WOLF3D.ZIP. Software Creations BBS at 1-508-365-2359 is
guaranteed to have it.
If you can't find it, you don't have a modem, or you just want to order the
missions now, call the number listed at the top of the article. Tell 'em
you saw it in _Game Bytes_.
Greens! by Microprose
Preview by Ross Erickson
I can't say too much about Greens!, Microprose' new entry into the world
of computer golf, except to say they have a tough row to hoe. The world
of computer golf on MS-DOS-based machines has been dominated of late by
Links from Access Software and the iterations of Jack Nicklaus Golf by
Accolade. Greens is making a play for the pin in this new simulation. The
version that is shipping now is currently only available on the Amiga, but
a straight port is underway now and should be available for DOS machines
this summer. As you can see in some of these screen shots, Greens! is
aiming fully at the VGA, 256 color graphics. While not rendered as
intricately as Links courses (whose are??), they make a reasonable attempt
at creating the sense of being at the course. As is Microprose' tradition,
the full gamut of sound boards will be supported as well. It is still too
early to tell, but at the time of the release of the Amiga version, only
fictional courses were said to be included in the course. Greens! was
developed by Microprose' U.K. arm of the business, and while fictional
courses was acceptable for that market, U.S. players let it be known that
this was not adequate. With such good T.V. coverage of PGA Tour events,
U.S. computer golf players want to be part of the real action on real
courses. This is evident by the popular CompuServe golf leagues that are
frequented on the Gamers forum.
Greens! is expected to have a plethora of configuation options available
that will allow players to fine-tune playing conditions to the utmost
detail. There are many different playing options such as skins, stroke-
play, match play, four-ball, best ball, and many others. The actual play
of the game is presented much like other computer golf games. At the
beginning of the hole, you'll be presented with an overhead "gods eye"
view of the hole to examine the trouble you'll be facing. After that,
it's back to a familar power bar setup. There is a unique feature for
accuracy that is presented here. If you go past the maximum "length" for
the shot and into the "overdrive" zone, the sweet spot indicator at the
bottom of the swing will become smaller and smaller indicating a harder
shot to execute.
The Amiga version was not exactly "splendorious" in its graphics so let's
hope that the PC version will make good use of the 256 color graphics and
large color palette to produce some attractive visuals. In this day and
age of mind-boggling graphics (read: Links), and amazing attention to
course detail (JNSE), Greens! certainly has its work cut out for it.
Let's hope it's up to the challenge. When the bar is raised another notch,
the customers always win!
Gamers:
This isn't exactly a preview, but this will give you a good idea of what
to expect in this major new upgrade to a very popular game from years ago.
Pirates! was a big hit for Microprose and from reading this information,
Pirates! GOLD should be another big hit for them. No screen shots yet.
====================
PIRATES! GOLD SPEC SHEET
Here is the spec sheet for Pirates! Gold. The features listed
are _tentative_ at this time.
Article III: Enhancements to Pirates Gold, IBM version
15 April 1992
Environment
* DOS resident. Must be played from hard-drive.
* VGA graphics. High-resolution, 256 colors. CGA, EGA, Tandy,
unsupported.
* Roland, Sound Blaster, AdLib sound drivers supported. IBM
speaker for sound-effects. Some digitized sounds.
* Mouse, joystick, and keyboard input devices supported.
Art
* High-resolution VGA graphics.
* All new pictures and animations. All new opening and closing
sequences.
* Animation to be in high-res VGA, in as many colors as is
practicable: 256 if possible, 16 if necessary.
Map
* Strategic map in high-res VGA. Map makeup (rendered or
character set) to be determined by programmer and artists.
* Map is interactive and changes as game progresses. City icons
appear and change as player learns more about city. For example,
if player sacks a city, city's map icon changes to a burning city
icon until city is rebuilt. Nationality flags appear next to
known cities, and change as city's nationality changes.
* Additional cities to be added to map: from five to 20. Not all
of these cities will be in play at one time. If feasible, some of
the new cities will be new types: native villages and/or free
(pirate) cities.
Ship Movement on Strategic Map
* Ship movement on strategic map is identical with current
movement, with following exceptions:
* Accelerated Time: Player may press "Alt-T" or some other key
combination to speed-up the passage of time and the ship's
movement. All phenomena in the game would have to speed up, as
well (weather, encounters, and so forth). When ship has an
encounter, accelerated time turns off automatically, otherwise
the player toggles it on and off at his convenience.
* Landing. When ship bumps into land, there's a two-second delay
before crew disembarks. If player moves ship away from land
during that period, crew doesn't disembark. (This feature will
cut down on the number of accidental disembarkations.)
* Cargo and ship scuttling: The pirate will be able to abandon
ships and cargo during sailing. This is useful when the pirate
has more ships than he can crew comfortably, and when one or more
of his ships is slow and/or damaged.
* Sun Sight: this will be deleted.
* Weather: Hurricanes will periodically wander into and through
Caribbean. The pirate will have to run before the hurricane or
find a port in which to weather the storm. If the pirate is
caught in the hurricane, he runs great risk of losing all his
ships and getting shipwrecked on a desert island for several
months.
Ship-to-Ship Combat
* Convoys: Pirate will occasionally encounter convoys of ships.
These will be a number of weak, unarmed cargo ships, guarded by
one powerful vessel. The convoy sequence will run as follows:
"Sail Ho!" If pirate investigates, next message is: "I count x
cargo ships, Captain, and one galleon!" If pirate investigates
again, he'll learn the ships' nationality. If pirate attacks,
he'll get the message: "The cargo ships scatter across the ocean
as the galleon comes out to meet you." The battle proceeds as
normal.
If the pirate is victorious, a die is rolled. Depending upon
the difficulty level and how long the battle took, the pirate
will overtake some, none, or all of the unarmed cargo vessels.
This should be an unusual event; possibly as few as one out of 10
encounters should be convoys. The escort ship should be powerful
and smart and the rewards should be great.
* In battle, player will have the option of taking a ranging shot
-- that is, he may fire off one of his cannon to find out where
his shot will land. This will reduce the strength of his
subsequent broadside by one; the ranging shot will not be
reloaded until after the broadside is fired (or the player fires
off his entire complement of cannon in ranging shots). Note that
ranging shots don't do any damage to the enemy vessel. There is a
slight chance, however, that the enemy vessel will surrender if
it is heavily outgunned and the ranging shot crosses its bows.
* Terrain: When the pirate's ship goes into combat, the program
will check to see how close the ship is to land, shoals, cities,
etc. If any of these are in likely range of the battle, they'll
be placed on the battle map. Ships may then attempt to make use
of this terrain in the battle -- i.e., light-draft vessels will
cut across shoals, hoping to cause heavier pursuers to run
aground; ships near to a friendly port will run for it, hoping to
draw protection from its guns, etc. This will necessitate
significant adjustment to the artificial intelligence of the
enemy ships.
* Weather: The weather in battle will reflect that which was
current when the battle began: if the pirate's ship was quite
near to a cloud, the storm will pass over the ships during the
battle. This will increase the windspeed and decrease the
effectiveness of cannon-fire (aiming is more difficult, and it
takes much longer to reload, on a storm-tossed vessel). Ships
with leaking hulls may sink.
* Battle Information: As much information as possible will be
displayed graphically, through icons, as well as through straight
text. Small portraits of the two combatant ships appear on the
bottom of the battle screen. Portraits display the following:
sail status, i.e., battle sails, full sails, or masts down; hull
damage; guns loaded or unloaded (gunports open or closed). Wind
direction should be shown by a weather-vane in the corner of the
screen. Crew number could be shown by number of icons next to the
ships' portraits.
* Victory: The player will see a screen displaying his current
ships, their sailing condition, his cannon, crew, and cargo, and
the prize's condition and cargo. He'll have all of this in front
of him before he must decide whether to take the captured ship as
a prize or scuttle her, what cargo to take and what to leave
behind, whether to accept volunteers from the defeated crew and
so forth.
City
* City menu to be replaced by graphic map of town. Map to show flag
of city plus buildings representing locations. To go to the
merchant, for instance, player would click on the building
labeled "Ye Merchante's Shoppe" or the like.
* The locations themselves have changed from current game:
Tavern, Governor's mansion, and merchant have lost some functions
to new locations. The following locations have been added:
Shipwright: pirate repairs ships and sells excess ships. Docks:
pirate leaves town and returns to ship. City gates: pirate leaves
town if he arrived by land. Bank: pirate divides treasure. Inn:
save game. Town crier/newspaper office: pirate learns information
and reviews his personal and crew's status.
* Map is mildly interactive. For example: if pirate came into the
city by land, the docks location is inactive, and possibly
removed from the map; if pirate cannot meet with governor, gates
to governor's mansion are closed; etc.
Land Battle
* Scale to be reduced slightly, to allow larger tactical area.
* General unit control: Player will have a cursor on the screen.
To activate a unit, he clicks on the unit. He then gives orders
to that unit (move here, shoot these guys, etc.), by putting the
cursor where he wants the unit to go or shoot, then clicking
again. He might be able to give orders to multiple units via
held-clicks.
* Musket fire controls altered. Currently, pirates attack
w/muskets when they're stationary and player doesn't touch the
controls. Instead, player will have choice of when and where to
fire. Player will also have to give the pirates a "reload"
command once they've fired. This will cause the pirates to become
immobile for a certain period of time. If the player chooses to
move these pirates before they have a chance to complete their
reload, they must start all over from the beginning.
* Melee fire controls altered. Player will click on a unit and
then the target; the unit will charge target and hack at it until
the target runs away, its morale is broken, or the player gives
it different orders.
* These changes should make little difference in the outcome of
the battles -- they are mostly cosmetic, giving the player the
appearance of more control. However, they may necessitate an
adjustment of the power and/or artificial intelligence of the
opponents to maintain play balance.
Treasure
* When he divides the plunder, the pirate will put his share into
his "secret treasure cave." This will be a static picture of an
empty cave; as the pirate puts booty there, it will gradually be
filled-up with gold, gems, encrusted items, swords, etc.
Swordfighting
* The sword-fighting sequence will be enhanced so that the player
has more control over his character. The command buffer will be
altered or removed, so the pirate's figure will respond more
quickly to commands.
* There will be additional figures in each animation sequence, so
each character's movement will be smoother.
* The player will have the option to attack high, medium or low,
or feint and attack high, medium or low. The feint attack will
have a better chance of getting through, but will do less damage.
* There will be some kind of new ending sequence for swordfights:
possibly, the victor will disarm the vanquished, sending his
sword out of the screen. The vanquished will be left standing,
hands in the air, instead of kneeling.
* There will be (if art-time permits) animations of three
different opponents for the pirate to face: Spanish guard,
Captain, and Pirate. In addition, if time permits, the pirate
will be shown with three different swords: cutlass, rapier,
longsword. Pirate's shirt may change color over the course of the
game, as well, as he gains in fame and wealth.
* Like the ship battle sequence, the game information in the
swordfighting sequence will be displayed in both text and art.
There will be portraits of the two combatants below the fighting
figures themselves; these portraits will show the expression of
the fighters: enraged, panicked, etc. The portraits' shirts may
become slashed as the battle progresses and the fighters take
wounds (if this isn't too tacky). Alongside the portraits will
appear icons representing the number of troops each fighter has.
Roleplaying
* Additional roleplaying missions will be added. If the pirate
gets married, his wife may be kidnapped. If there is a famine in
a port of the pirate's nationality, he may be asked to take food
to that port.
Information Retrieval
* Improve information sequence, making it easier for player to
find what's going on. Screen should be split into multiple text
boxes, one showing current political info (France is at war with
Spain, Dutch at war with English), one showing current personal
info (Don Luego spotted in Cartagena), and one showing current
missions (Carrying secret letter for Governor of Belize's brother
in Havana).
* Record feature. Under pirate's diary in information screen,
pirate can find a listing of all actions he's taken during the
game: every battle, casualties on both sides, etc. This currently
exists in the game, but it only keeps track of the last 10 or so
things the pirate does. Pirate should be able to scroll through
page after page of diary.
Economy
* Apparently, there's a flaw in the city economy algorithm. If
the pirate doesn't pillage a city for a very long time, it will
become obscenely wealthy. This must be corrected.
Reward Sequence
* Player will be able to view all of his honors and awards
simultaneously (probably from his cabin in his ship). He'll see a
scroll saying "Ensign in the Spanish Navy"; if he is promoted to
captain, the scroll will be overlaid with one bearing his new
rank. If he has awards from different nationalities, all will be
viewable here. The pirate should also be able to look at "Wanted"
posters of himself from the various nationalities.
* Retirement Screen: a static shot showing the pirate sailing off
into the sunset. His retirement status determines the vessel-type
he's sailing in, from a leaky rowboat to a fleet of galleons.
* Treasure Cavern: Pirate's personal wealth is determined by the
amount he's deposited in his treasure cavern (see above). Cash
he's taken in battle earns him nothing until he divides the
treasure.
Forwarded by -Quentin, MPS Labs, MicroProse
Copyrighted 1992 By MicroProse Software, Inc.
Preview of Troon North Course for Links
by Ross Erickson
Access Software just continues to amaze with the quality of the golf courses
they continue to produce for their award-winning Links golf game. The latest
course to be shipping from Access is Troon North from Arizona. At first, I
must admit I was a bit disappointed and skeptical that this was a good
choice. I've been crying out for a big name course like Pebble Beach or
Augusta ever since the product started shipping. I'd even be pacified for
a while if St. Andrews was available. So when I saw Troon North, I kind of
ho-hum'ed it at first until I "fired it up" to take a look.
While not having the name recognition that these other regular PGA Tour
courses offer, Troon North surprised me tremendously at how beautiful the
desert can look and what a marvelous job Messrs. Weiskopf and Morrish have
done at sculpting the desert into this oasis of golf. The team at Access
has to be commended for a great job at conveying the sense of being out
in the middle of the Segoran (sp?) desert. For grins, I hit my ball
deliberately out into the desert (yeah, right!) just to see what it looks
like to hit from the ultimate sand trap. This is a classy addition to your
Links Courses collection. Any avid Links golfer has got to have this one.
My only criticism of this course would be its size, and consequently the
time it takes to redraw the screens. I guess I can't really fault Access
for this though. We want them to produce more detailed courses and with
that details comes the performance hit. Ah yes, just another reason to buy
that 486/50 I've been dreaming about.
If you're a Links player, you have to get this course. No regrets. If
you're not into Links yet, check out a demo of this at the store soon. Even
if you don't play computer golf, the beauty of this course may change your
mind.
Ed. - I apologize for not having any screen shots of Troon North to show, but
Links is pretty touchy with regards to screen capture programs so we had to
forgo screen shots for this preview.
Rumors: What a Fall/Winter it will be!
by Inside Track
The rumors bag should really start emptying soon as summer CES approaches
within hours from now. Many of the rumors that you've been hearing about
for the past few months are about to turn into announcements. Being on the
inside, I can tell you that we've got one heckuva fall/winter ahead of us.
Let's get some of this started.
Fans of the Might and Magic series who've made their way through the 3rd
installment of this RPG classic won't have to wait much longer for the next
adventure. While avoiding calling this Might and Magic 4, New World is
preparing to ship MIGHT AND MAGIC: CLOUDS OF XEEN before the end of June.
As many of you know, the folks at Legend who brought us Ernie Eaglebeek's
bawdy adventures in Spellcasting 101 and 201 have changed their affiliation
from Microprose to Accolade. This series has rejuvinated the pure puzzle
player in the market with some exceptional hand drawn graphics. SPELLCASTING
301: SPRING BREAK will be another much-anticipated adventure from Meretzky
and company. Shipping in the fall. Watch for Legend's newest adventure,
GATEWAY to ship much before that.
Anyone who has access to a modem by now has seen the amazing work done by
ID Software and Apogee in Castle Wolfenstein 3D. The incredible speed that
this game operates simply astounds virtually all users (please 286 users no
end!). The next installment of WOLFENSTEIN adventures should be shipping
before Christmas, but watch for other new economical titles from Apogee
before then.
On a bit of a sad note, it's become known to the Trackman that DataEast is
pulling out of the software business to concentrate solely on the cartridge
market. While we wish them luck in this venture, we have wondered what will
happen to the much anticipated ULTRABOTS and BATTLEFIELD 2000. Developed by
NOVALOGIC for DataEast, these titles will only be available on the Super
Nintendo from Dataeast. Not to worry though - CES will make a great oppor-
tunity to find out who will win the lottery to publish the PC version. Yes,
all that programming isn't going down the drain. Novalogic is negotiating
with several top companies to publish these two outstanding games.
It's shipping, it's shipping!! By the time you read this, the long-awaited
ACES OF THE PACIFIC from Dynamix should be shipping. If you're a fan of
Red Baron, you'll go nuts for this. If you haven't played Red Baron, prepare
to be blown away by this quality release.
The car racing market is about to get heated up this year with the release of
three, count'em 3, new driving simulations. First up to bat will be ROAD AND
TRACK GRAND PRIX UNLIMITED from Accolade, soon to ship. Then we'll see CAR
AND DRIVER from Electronic Arts with high-res 640x480 SVGA support. Look for
this in the latter part of summer. Finally, Microprose should have completed
the PC version of WORLD CIRCUIT, currently shipping on the Amiga now. This
is a full fledged Formula 1 racing simulation which has received rave reviews
from the Amiga crowd. WORLD CIRCUIT should be shipping in early Fall.
We've all been waiting a long time for the next installment in the Tolkien
trilogy, Lord of the Rings, and Interplay tells us that THE TWO TOWERS is
in the home stretch and should be finishing up in a matter of weeks now, not
months. BUZZ ALDRIN'S RACE INTO SPACE is also doing well in the labs and
should be shipping by mid summer.
Like last summer, Konami is taking the quantity approach to the gaming
business. Last summer, Konami announced 17 new titles for the PC side of
their business (unfortunately CHAMPIONS was one of those 17, and we know
where that is still...). Well, this summer is no different. Konami is
slated to show 17 MORE new titles for this next fall season product blitz.
Among those titles are NFL, a great new in-depth, arcade football game
featuring real NFL teams. Also some great licenses from the Bitmap Brothers
in Europe including GODS, MAGIC POCKETS, AND CHAOS ENGINE. If you haven't
seen a Bitmap Brothers game, you're in for a real treat. This is high-
quality arcade action all the way. With the amount of time it's taking to
get CHAMPIONS out to the market, it must be one heckuva game. Due to ship
now in early Fall.
Well, that's enough rumor to keep you salivating for another issue. You'll
certainly have to watch this spot next month to catch the latest CES news.
I'm sure there will be PLENTY to talk about. In the meantime, here's some
latest release dates for the games you're talking about most..
LINKS 386 PRO - Access Software End of June
STAR CONTROL 2 - Accolade August/September
SPELLCRAFT - ASCII Entertainment June
DUNE - Virgin Games Due to ship any day now
LAURA BOW 2 - Sierra On-Line June
CRISIS IN THE KREMLIN - Spectrum Holobyte SHIPPING NOW
MANTIS: XF5700 EXPERIMENTAL FIGHTER - Paragon June/July
DARKLANDS - Microprose June/July
MICROLEAGUE BASEBALL 4 - MicroLeague Sports June
POWERMONGER/PC - Bullfrog/Electronic Arts June/July
STRIKE COMMANDER - Origin Fall
This is likely to be a regular part of rumors, so check here first for news
on when your favorite game is supposed to ship. Subject to change, of course.
A VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Editorial comments by Ross Erickson
There is certainly a lot going on in the gaming industry this month. By the
time you read this, it's likely that the summer Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) will be well underway. For those who don't know about this show, CES
is to the gaming industry what Las Vegas is to gamblers. This is where it's
at. All the latest and greatest in the gaming industry, both software and
cartridge come to "lay it all out" for the distributors, the press, and this
year, even the public. For the first time in the show's history, the public
has been invited for the final two days to come in and see all the new
products and the excitement. Is this a good idea. I'm torn between the two
obvious answers. On the one hand, it's useful in some respect to have your
buying customers come in and talk with you and see the products that they are
going to buy in advance of their shipment. This can obviously be a great
opportunity for good public relations. On the other hand, it can be taken
to such extremes that it can be detrimental. There have been rumors floating
around that the CES has sold over 100,000 tickets for these final two days;
in fact the number 200,000 has even been rumored. If either of these numbers
are correct, what you will have is a mass human stampede which by sheer
numbers alone will prevent anyone from seeing anything useful, not to say
anything about trying to develop customer relations.
Many exhibitors I've talked to are not looking forward to this part of the
show for this reason. They feel the sheer numbers are going to create
problems such as the obvious logistical nightmare of trying to manage that
many people from a transportation standpoint. Plus, there's the certain
increased risk in theft and damage. Some vendors have gone on to say that
they may in fact write off their booth exhibits after the show because of
the expected damage and loss they might incur during these final two days.
What bothers most vendors the most is that they were not consulted
beforehand by the CES management as to whether this was a good idea.
Some vendors, such as Lucasfilms Games, have decided to "stay home" this
year for this reason alone. Does this signal the end of CES? Probably not,
but it may cloud over how well this supershow is supported by its own
exhibitors in the future. Many in the trade have said they plan on getting
in to do their business in the first two days, and then they are bugging out
in advance of the expected human wave. I admit, I'm doing just that. But
on to other things...
As I have watched and been a part of the gaming industry for several years
now, I've come to notice a disturbing increase in the number of people who,
through their exuberance and anticipation, are putting an extreme amount of
pressure and reliance upon release dates. A classic example of how this
pressure can backfire is to look at what happened to Spectrum Holobyte (SH)
and their highly advanced Falcon 3.0 flight simulator. SH had announced
their intentions to produce this highly technical piece of work several years
before the product showed up at your local Software Etc. For many, many
months, anxious gamers put unneeded pressure on the on-line representatives,
in some cases, angrily denouncing SH for delaying the product so long. In
defense of the customers, SH original estimates for completing project were
highly aggressive and not attainable. In fact, they missed their target date
by over a year.
As the testing process continued and the game started reaching its apex, so
it seems did the pitch and fury over when Falcon 3.0 was going to be released.
It got so bad on CompuServe that the SH representative stopped making
estimates for fear of the reprisal if the estimates were not kept. What
resulted is the hurried release of an unfinished product last Christmas. Is
SH blameless in this? Did they do this just to appease this pent-up demand?
Certainly not. They wanted to reach store shelves in time for Christmas and
to inject the company with a much-needed cash influx to finish projects and
start others. What has happened since is a continual upgrade process (we're
now up to rev. D) to an otherwise superb flight simulator.
My point is that while SH had motives for releasing this product early, I
wonder what might have happened differently if this product was "hush-hush"
and nobody really knew anything about it. Would there be such a hue and cry
for a product if nobody was expecting anything? Obviously not. SH may, in
fact, have delayed the release of the product until it was firmly completed
and ready for all without any of the now famous bugs. Where this is true at
all is pure conjecture. What I am encouraging gamers everywhere to do,
however, is to put less and less emphasis on WHEN a game is released, but
rather on encouraging the developer to "do it right". We'll all enjoy the
games we play a LOT more if we're a LOT less tense about when they'll show up.
Developers hear this "noise" about how "they've GOT to release this game NOW",
and they in fact, cut some corners at times to satisfy those very customers.
Then when the bugs are discovered, the cry goes up again about how awful
this company was for putting out a game too early.
If we want the game companies to keep us informed about the "work-in-progress"
then we've got to MELLOW OUT a bit. The games will get here when they are
completed, and all the complaining in the world will only encourage a
developer to cut features, shorten testing, and otherwise release buggy
products to us that we pay good money for. Please. When you have a chance
to talk to your favorite vendor - give them some slack. Ask what is
expected and when it might be available, but take the dates with a grain of
salt. Software programming, certainly in the games category, is much like
art. To truly get a "Mona Lisa" instead of "paint-by-numbers" you have to
let these electronic artists express themselves freely. This takes time.
Let's give them that time.
Ross Erickson
Editor - GAME BYTESLord British: A Fantasy Interview
by David Taylor
The game just came out Saturday, Apr. 18. I'm skeptical this time.
Most of the previous Origin releases have been jewels. For his luck to
hold out would be obscene. Richard Garriott, a.k.a. "Lord British,"
has returned with the long overdue release of the seventh part in the
"Ultima" computer fantasy adventure game series, "Ultima VII: The Black
Gate," and this would be a perfect opportunity to ask for an
interview with the most famous computer game author in the world.
Texan: "How old were you when you wrote your first computer game?"
Garriott: "I went to school in Clear Creek High School in Houston. We
had a teletype with a paper tape reader hooked up with a modem to the
Region 4 Cyber. I took the one computer programming class that the
school offered. For the remaining three years at high school, I would
write computer games. No teacher, no grades. At the end of the
semester, they'd just look at what I had written and I'd get a premium
guaranteed A letter grade." Galen, Origin's media relations man,
fetches a roll of paper tape and what looks like an old scroll.
Written in BASIC on the paper tape are some of the 28 games Richard had
been working on in high school. The scroll is just the printout from
one of these ancient games. It is a small map of a tiny 16x16 world
printed in text characters on a teletype. "I've basically been writing
the same game since 1974."
T: "Help me with my math. How old would you have been when you first
wrote [the program that produced the teletype output]?"
G: "Uh ... I would've been ... 14 years old, 15 when I finished it." He
points to his first published game on the wall, "Akalabeth." "That's
written in BASIC, too. It was based on some of the games I wrote in
high school. In 1979, I had access to an Apple ][ computer, so I was
able to add 3D perspective view dungeon graphics. I was working in a
ComputerLand store as a salesperson, and my manager said I should
really consider publishing it. So I spent $200 on ziploc bags and
cover sheets in 1979, and I published that game. Of the only eight I
sold in that ComputerLand, one found its way to a computer publishing
company in California. They called me on the phone and said that there
were plane tickets waiting for me at the airport. I flew to
California, signed a piece of paper, and they started sending me
money. I didn't like the original package, so I had that second one
[he points to another copy with a sexier cover] done by Dennis Loubee
who's done the covers for every Ultima since then. I was 19 years old
when that was published. After that game was finished, I said, `Gee,
that made a lot of money, and I never intended to publish it. If I
were to really write one with the intention of publishing it, I could
really make some money,' and that's when I started work on the first
Ultima. It was also written in BASIC. This sold even better than
Akalabeth. So I said, `If I were to write this in assembly language,
it'd be an even better game!' so I wrote Ultima II. I had sort of a
falling out with California Pacific at this point, and they basically
stopped paying me. I went to Sierra for Ultima II. They promised me a
box with a cloth map. Most of my competition back then was arcade-
game rip-offs that came out in ziploc bags about once a month, and
nobody cared much about them. Mine was one of the only boxed games in
the industry at the time. The Ultima games are still the only ones
with cloth maps. The publishers don't like these maps because they're
expensive to produce. After Ultima II, I said `Gee whiz, the code for
this was kinda clunky.' It was the first assembly code I'd ever done,
so I started Ultima III. So you can see a pattern emerging here. All
these games were learning experiences for me. I was rewriting games,
starting over from scratch. It was really an accident, but I still do
it to this day. I really believe that it's what's helped make the
Ultima series so popular. Each one was dramatically improved over its
predecessor. So Ultima III was the first product Origin produced back
in 1983. After I had my own company, I actually started receiving
letters sent to me personally. I had never received letters before.
Suddenly, other things were happening too. I was 23, I had moved out
to the frozen wastelands of New England. You're going through that
phase of life where you've moved out of the house, and you're sure
glad, and you don't want advice from your parents, but you're really
not so confident you're making the right decisions on your own, and you
sure wish you could have some help from somebody though you didn't want
it? You know this phase?"
T: "I'm 23 right now. I know the phase." I roll my eyes.
G: "That's when I began working on Ultima IV. I'd learned how to write
a good program, and now I wanted to become a good storyteller. I
wanted to make sure the story had content. Ultima IV was the first one
that had ethical overtones in it, and it also was just a better told
story. The first three were "Go kill the evil bad guy" stories.
Ninety percent of the other adventure games out there are still in this
format. You know, "Go kill the evil wizard. You're this great hero.
How do you know? Says so in the documentation. What're you supposed
to do? Kill the bad guy! Why? `Cause you're told so in the
documentation. Ever see the bad guy take advantage of people in the
world? No. What do you do while you're there? You take advantage of
everyone you meet and hoard lots of treasure so that you can kill the
bad guy who never did anything to you!" The difference between Ultima
V and Ultima IV is that in U4, you could tell the bad guys from the
good guys really easily. In U5, some of them were good at heart but
comfortable under the new evil system even though they were
fundamentally good guys. Some guys you thought were good guys but are
really helping the bad guys. The storytelling was a lot better in this
release- lots more gray areas. By the
time we got to Ultima VI, the
previous five Ultima's were getting really hard to use, and the Apple
platform was just getting too constrictive. Suddenly, we went from a
64k 1MHz 6502 processor to a 10-12 MHz 8086 processor with 640k of
memory. There was an instant technological leap with just the hardware
we were using, but we also decided to start using an easier user
interface."
T: "What inspired you to change to a mouse-oriented interface?"
G: "There were two games back then that inspired me. One was Chris'
[Roberts] `Times of Lore', and another was `DungeonMaster.' Ultima
VII's interface is my own conception, and I'm very proud of it, because
it's so easy to use." He later proceeds to show me the entire
interface in the space of 5 minutes.
T: "What sort of computers do you develop these games for, and what do
you develop them on?"
G: He points to the shelves in his office. He has in them every
release of Origin's games. He points out "Ogre" which has been
translated to work on 7 different kinds of computers, then he points to
their latest release, Ultima VII. There's only one, and it's for IBM
compatibles. "We have no plans to port it to different platforms. It
requires a fast 386."
T: "What's the performance bottleneck for these games?"
G: "The video card and the hard disk. Your happiness with the game
depends very much on what kind of video card you have. The Achilles'
heel of my machine here [he points to a 33MHz 486 with EISA bus] is
definitely the video card. Machine speeds vary all over the place.
Tried the game on a 486/50MHz in England. Was a little too fast.
Almost unplayable. Then there's 16MHz 386SX's...."
T: "386 SUX"?
G: "Yeah, that's my name for them, too. Most good entertainment
software today suffers on a 386SX. We stick `frame limiters' in there
to cap the speed of the game if you're playing it on a machine that's
too fast. Problem is we set the cap a little too high, so on really
fast machines, the guys in the towns sorta move around too fast.
T: "What kind of people and effort went into Ultima VII?"
G: "It took 25 person-years to develop Ultima VII. We about had 8
programmers, 4 artists, 4 writers, 4 TDA's (Technical Design
Assistants), 2 audio engineers, myself, and Michelle (production
assistant). That's basically it. The group fluctuated a little, and
it was as high as 30 for a while, and let me tell ya, that's a nightmare
to manage."
T: "How much time do you spend managing and handling compatibility
problems?"
G: "I only manage. I don't write the game anymore. It's much easier
to hire professionals to handle the whole thing. Because I had written
the entire games in the past, I had experience with all the parts, so I
knew well how to integrate them together. So managing was sort of a
natural step."
T: "Were you sorry to stop programming and start managing?"
G: "It was very painful at first, especially when I was doing some of
the code, and other people were changing my code, but as soon as I
completely stopped, I kind of liked it. I mean, if there's something I
don't like now, I can say, "make it go another way," and it's someone
else's problem!" He chuckles.
T: "And compatibility?"
G: "Huge amounts of time are wasted on this. An enormous amount of
time is spent supporting 3-6 sound cards, different video modes and
cards, processor speeds, MS- DOS configurations. How do you access the
memory that DOS doesn't let you get to? There are 5 or 6 answers to
that, and almost all of them are going to piss somebody off."
T: "So you created this VooDoo memory manager explicitly for the game?"
G: "OK, I'm gonna get technical now. I assume you're an MS-DOS
person?"
T: "Uh, no. I helped write a game in UNIX last year."
G: "Smart man. We called it the VooDoo memory manager because you're
not supposed to be able to access more than 64k of memory at a time
using expanded memory management. Now, I'm leaving my area of
expertise, but I believe we were able to quickly pop into protected
mode and change registers which affect the coarseness of that page
size. We use it because I can easily show you objects in Ultima VII
which take up more than 64k, and it's very inconvenient to have to page
flip in the middle of one."
[We diverge onto the topic of the woes of MS-DOS and memory management,
high-5 after he mentions he's relatively MS-DOS ignorant, and Galen
asks that I not quote one of the derogatives mentioned] [We get back on
track]
T: "Another programming question: I've always wondered how you were
able to clip your view against the different canopies of the spaceships
in the Wing Commander series. How did you do that so fast?"
G: "You're not going to like how simple this answer is. [He pulls out
paper and pencil] We call it `slamming,' and it's the bottleneck to
most of our high-speed games. We actually draw on an entire off-screen
memory area, and then we copy over only the parts that can be seen
through the canopy using a very large list of move string instructions,
customized for each ship type."
T: "So there's no other clipping?"
G: "Not much."
T: [I do the obligatory I-should've-had-a-V8 forehead slap] "Also,
how do you model the objects in Ultima VII? Is the world still based
on a grid?"
G: "The objects are still anchored on an underlying grid, but they
are modeled as prisms with width, length, and height."
T: [I glance at my watch and try to get back on the original list of
questions] "What made you decide to come to Austin?"
G: "I went to school here at UT. I dropped out of UT to go write games
for a living."
T: "What degree were you going for?"
G: "EE. I was getting up into my junior year, and we were starting to
do some of the more esoteric physics, and it was becoming more work
than fun for me. And, what I was doing for fun, was becoming work- fun
work- profitably fun work. It was a convenient time to go play games.
For a long time, I thought when the windfall profits go away, I'll go
back and finish up my degree. It took me two or three years to realize
that even if this fails, I have such a body of experience in this, I
believe I'm fairly employable, at this stage."
T: "Are there one or two things that make a game a success now that
wasn't true back then?"
G: "Absolutely. They used to ask me to come back to my high school and
tell students how to be successful writing computer games. I'd go back
and say [his voice slowly starts to go up in pitch like John Lovitz'],
`Convince your parents to buy a computer at the house. Just sit around
and type programs from a magazine to teach yourself how to program,
then write a game, get it published, and you'll make lots of money -
yeah!' That was true back in those days."
T: "And today?"
G: "It's far different. Ultima VII cost $1,000,000 to develop. When
you're spending that kind of money, it's a very serious business. Also,
my musical and artistic skills used to be adequate back then for the
marketplace. The audio-visual impact is a lot more important now.
It's why the Wing Commander games were instant runaway hits when they
were released."
T: "What do you think your chances are of recovering that $1,000,000?"
G: "We recovered that on day one. We needed 50,000 back orders to
break even. We had 60,000 the day it was released. It's the biggest
rollout we've ever had."
T: "What advice would you give to someone who wants to write a computer
game on their own?"
G: "On their own? I'd say forget it. I don't mean that as a joke.
It's very serious. You no longer can compete. It's like competing
with Lamborghini on your own. There's one of two ways you can write a
successful game alone. Either you're really lucky and you produce a
Tetris, which is sort of a shot in the dark- good luck!, or you have to
produce an Ultima or a Wing Commander, but you need about a million
bucks to pull that off, and you need to finish it in about a year or
it'll be obsolete. My advice for doing it on your own- get help. If
you want to do it in industry, you've got to decide what facet you want
to get into. If you want to program, you really need to know C++ and
assembly. It's harder to get trained on the job for that, too. If you
want to have my job, you have to affiliate with an organization such as
our own and build a career path inside so that you get expertise in
each of those fundamental areas of design. In fact, that's what's
really capping the growth of Origin- finding people that can lead
projects. You can't hire them. They're not out there. One of our
principal goals now is to grow people to this position."
T: "Any plans of retiring?"
G: "Nope!"
T: "May I ask how old you are now?"
G: "Yeah, 30." Reflectively, "I've been working on basically the same
series of stuff for half my life, now."
T: "Can you comment about your affiliation with the SCA?"
G: "Yeah, the Society of Creative Anachronism. I'm still a member but
less active than I was. If you know any local SCA people, you'll
probably recognize their names in the game, along with names of most of
the employees here at Origin, close friends, whoever is walking outside
in the hall ..." He smiles.
T: "Multi-player games- this is a personal interest of mine, any plans
for that?"
G: "Ultima VIII! We made a multi-user map maker for Ultima VII. Well,
this was something we were using for Underworld as sort of an
afterthought. We weren't really planning to do this, but you could pop
in and out of the map-maker from within the game, which means that
without really thinking about it, we'd created something so close to a
multi-player game, with Ultima VIII, we've decided to just go ahead and
do it. One of the things we're doing is getting rid of the idea of a
party of characters. You'll adventure about on your own."
T: "What kind of networks will you support?"
G: "Well, whatever we've got will be first ... What are we using now?"
Galen replies, "Novell." He continues, "And then modem, head-to-head,
of course. We'll play it in house first, and we'll let people call in
and try it. For publication, we'll probably do modem-to-modem."
T: "So people would call some 1-800 number to get in an Origin world?"
G: "Hehe, or 1-900 ..." A fast comment (I missed it) about his brother
Robert Garriott (President of Origin) whizzes by.
T: "You have any blow-your-mind-comments about what will be new for
Ultima VIII?"
G: "Well, I can give you some interesting comments about Ultima VIII
and Ultima X."
T: "Huh? Is having an Ultima IX bad luck or something?"
G: "No ... you'll see why in a second... you've heard people throwing
around the phrase `virtual reality' lately, right? Well, Ultima X is
going to be using different forms of that. Data gloves, stereoscopic
goggles, in an Ultima world. In fact, they've started work on it a
couple doors down the hall here. We'll release it so that you can use
mice and all if you don't have that, but they're actually getting
pretty cheap, now, about $1000 for the goggles. We're also playing
with some low-tech VR stuff. Nintendo is starting to ask us for what
we'd like to see in their goggles which will be under $200."
T: "When I solicited questions for this interview from the Internet,
the most common question was more of a plea: `Why won't you write games
for the Mac?' Has the market for Mac games changed or is it still an
uphill battle selling a profitable game for this platform?"
G: "The Mac is my platform of choice, but the market won't support it.
The computer games market is 90% PC's. We've got to be able to recover
the costs for this stuff."
We've almost run out of our fast-paced one hour interview at this
point, so he quickly shows me a special version of Ultima VII so that I
can see the intro movie, endgame movie (which you can't normally see
unless you win), and a sample of the game interface. The movies,
although short, are impressive. He blasted the sound effects and score
on his gargantuan stereo speakers, and we watched a really well-done
pre-rendered movie starring a supreme evil type dude. The endgame
movie also provides a neat teaser for Ultima VIII. The interface
proves to be very quick to learn, too. We don't have time for more, so
I quickly thank him for his time and drive back to work before my
absence is appreciated.
Thanks to the following people for submitted questions (in order of
submissions received):
stephen@leland.stanford.edu,
M <egp41980@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>,
tblackma@ecn.purdue.edu (Tom Blackman),
barry@playfair.stanford.edu (Barrett P. Eynon),
Robert Klingsten <bladex@engin.umich.edu>,
evaitl@cs.UCSD.EDU (Eric Vaitl),
"Corp. Reed" <ecr2@midway.uchicago.edu>,
Ed McMuffin <ebratton@suna0.cs.uiuc.edu>,
Julian D Lighton <jl8e+@andrew.cmu.edu>,
taihou@iss.nus.sg (Tng Tai Hou),
Christophe.Liekens@cs.kuleuven.ac.be (Christophe Liekens),
jyoung@isis.cs.du.edu (Jeff Young),
Todd Keenan Bowman <tb0o+@andrew.cmu.edu>,
"Daniel L. McDonald" <danmcd@cs.arizona.edu>,
"Wayne C. McCullough" <wayne@eng.umd.edu>,
rfermier@Athena.MIT.EDU,
ifbb657 (Douglas Floyd),
Stephen M Smith <smsmith@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>,
cej@ccsitn.att.com (Charles E Jones),
jahangir!stuart@uunet.UU.NET (Stuart),
Steven Luh <eabu111@orion.oac.uci.edu>,
pjs@astro.as.utexas.edu (Peter J. Shelus),
bdugan@gnu.ai.mit.edu,
jahangir!stuart@uunet.UU.NET (Stuart),
unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (resU nwonknU ehT),
ted@cs.utexas.edu,
"Kevin Furrow" <KWF102@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>,
S. Lee <qa1cs220@uhura.cc.rochester.edu>,
mcrosby@isis.cs.du.edu (Matthew Crosby),
rdippold@cancun.Qualcomm.COM (Ron Dippold), and
rrr@ideas.com (Richard R. Rubel)
LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP COURSES CONINTUE TO MULTIPLY
Troon North Course Near Phoenix, Arizona Joins The LINKS Lineup
to become SIXTH Course Released.
Access Software, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of another Champion-
ship Course for their award-winning LINKS program. The Troon North course
is an immaculate oasis poured over the lush Senorian desert. Each hole is
a very private golf experience due to the unique course design of Tom
Weiskopf and Jay Morrish. Although the course is still very young, it has
hosted the prestigious Merrill Lynch Shootout Championship and the LPGA's
Mitsubishi World Pro-Am. Located near Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona,
Troon North is unsurpassed among LINKS courses. The desert layout and
breathtaking views make Troon North especially enjoyable to play. The
course is shipping now with a suggested retail price of $24.95.
Links was designed to easily incorporate these add-on Championship courses.
Once the course is installed the LINKS player needs only to select the
desired course by clicking on the mouse button. New courses are in develop-
ment and will be released about every other month this year. An updated
.EXE program is included with the course disks.
Access Software was awarded the prestigious Software Publishers Association
(SPA) Excellence in Software Award for LINKS last year and was just awarded
another SPA award for the LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP COURSES. The Computer Gaming
World award for BEST ACTION GAME for 1991 was presented to Access for
LINKS.
For additional information please call Access at 1-800-800-4880.ACCOLADE AND PRODIGY FORM THE PRODIGY NETWORK GOLF TOUR
FEATURING JACK NICKLAUS GOLF & COURSE DESIGN: SIGNATURE EDITION
San Jose, CA - May 5, 1992 -- Accolade and the PRODIGY Service have jointly
announced the formation of the PRODIGY Network Golf Tour in conjunction with
the PRODIGY online computer service and Accolade's newest golf simulation,
Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design: Signature Edition. The new Custom
Choice feature will be offered from the PRODIGY service beginning in June.
The more than one and half million members of the PRODIGY service will
be able to access the Network Golf Tour for an additional $7.95 per month
in addition to their regular service fee.
Each month PRODIGY members may compete in either an "open" tournament with
up to 149 other PRODIGY service members or in an "invitational" tournament,
where they can create their own competitive field of four to thirty-two
players. Members will be able to download a different golf course and play
18 holes off-line at their convenience using Accolade's Jack Nicklaus Golf &
Course Design: Signature Edition computer golf game. when they have
completed their round they will then upload their scores back on to the
PRODIGY service. A "Clubhouse bulletin board" will provice the rules,
upcoming tournament schedules, and a way to contact the "Club Pro" with
questions.
Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design: Signature Edition is the only 256-color
VGA course designer on the market. Player's may "create" their own golfers
and may design their own golf courses utilizing the sophisticated yet
intuitive interface. Realistic golfer images and sounds, as well as custom-
izable terrain features, make the Signature Edition a "must-have" for
computer golf fans. For those computer golfers who prefer to turn on the
computer and play immediately, two Jack Nicklaus designed courses have been
included in the game, English Turn in Louisiana and Sherwood Country Club in
California. Play against a field of computer generated players, other human
players, or the Golden Bear himself in a single round or up to a five round
tournament.
PRODIGY Service Start-up kits are available at over 15,000 retail stores
nationwide. PRODIGY maintains a tool-free information number (1-800-
PRODIGY) to help locate stores than sell the kits.
Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design: Signature Edition is currently available
at a suggested retail price of $69.95 and may be purchased at local retailers
or direct from Accolade by calling 1-800-245-7744.
Accolade, a privately held company, is a leading developer, publisher and
distributor of entertainment software for personal computers and leading
video game machines.GET ON THE RAILROAD TO RICHES WITH A-TRAIN FOR IBM PC AND 100% COMPATIBLES
Orinda, CA - Maxis has released the IBM version of its newest simulation
game, A-Train, for $69.95.
A-Train, the latest Software Toy from Maxis, challenges you to build the
metropolis of your dreams, with a railroad as the transportation hub, and
prove that a city can develop around a clean and efficient public transit
system.
Each of A-Train's six scenarios start you off with building materials, cash,
and a playing field in various stages of urban development. Then you buy
land, lay track, place any of 19 different freight and passenger trains, and
schedule their runs. The trains will transport people and building materials
to areas under development, laying the groundwork for the housing, jobs, and
recreational centers that your city needs to grow.
You watch your trains zip around in a window view that shows trees,
farmland, hills, houses, even cows. The simulation cycles through day and
night, and through the seasons of the year for a heightened sense of realism.
As your city grows, you build wealth by speculating in real estate or dabbling
in the stock market. Advisors will pop onto your screen with business advice,
which you can act on or ignore, as you choose.
With your newfound wealth, develop office buildings, hotels, apartments,
factories, amusement parks, ski resorts, malls, stadiums, and golf courses.
On screen balance sheets of revenues vs. expenses help you track which
investments are winners, and which are money pits.
You'll need a sharp eye for good business opportunities, and the guts to act
on your instincts quickly. Otherwise, competing entrepreneurs may buy prime
land out from under your nose for their own development projects.
If you succeed in developing a large city, you will be rewarded with a Bullet
Train for high-speed transport. If you go broke...well, you can always start
over and try again.
In a sense, A-Train is the capitalist's SimCity - the private sector approach
to urban development. It combines city-building with railroad management and
sophisticated financial modeling to provide a depth of play that will keep you
challenged for weeks, months, and even years.
A-Train is the U.S. version of a game originally published in Japan in 1990
by Artdink, based on a series of games that began in 1986. A-Train has sold
over 100,000 copies, won major awards, and has consistently ranked #1 in
Japanese consumer polls. Maxis will release Macintosh and Amiga versions of
A-Train later in 1992.
Maxis, based in Orinda, CA and founded in 1987, publishes Software Toys,
which let players learn through exploration, with no traditional way to win
or lose. Maxis' first game, SimCity, was published in 1989 and has been a
consistent top seller since. SimCity was joined on the best-seller list by
SimEarth in 1990 and SimAnt in 1991. Maxis is among the fastest-growing
software companies today.
All Maxis products distributed in the US by Broderbund Software, Novato, CA;
415-521-6263. SimCity, SimEarth, and SimAnt are trademarks of Sim-Business.
A-Train is a trademark of Artdink, copyright 1992 Sim-Business. IBM,
Macintosh, and Amiga are trademarks of their respective companies.
ORIGIN LAUNCHES SPECIAL OPERATIONS 2
(Austin, TX)--An untested superfighter, twenty new missions and tactical
nuclear missiles come together in ORIGIN Systems' release of
SPECIAL OPERATIONS 2, the final chapter of the WING COMMANDER II saga.
SPECIAL OPERATIONS 2 is the second add-on module for
WING COMMANDER II: VENGEANCE OF THE KILRATHI. In the story, Jazz Colson,
the treacherous pilot who betrayed the human forces, escapes during the
journey to his death sentence. Bluehair, the player's character, must
track him down and find the Mandarins, other human traitors now fighting
alongside the tiger-like Kilrathi race.
The player will recognize some familiar faces. Maniac is back, and is now
leading a wing of new test pilots flying the Morningstar in combat.
The Morningstar is the Confederation's newest superfighter, equipped
with Mace tactical nuclear missiles capable of wiping out an entire
Kilrathi squadron. The player can even transfer his own character from
WING COMMANDER II or SPECIAL OPERATIONS 1. A special Mission Selector
program allows re-flight of any sortie in the WING COMMANDER II series.
"This is definitely action-packed, one thing right after another,"
according to Lead Programmer Charles Cafrelli. "There's even a new base
called 'Ayres Rock' built into an asteroid. It's our first assymetrical item.
When you fly around it, there are 67 views."
SPECIAL OPERATIONS 2 is available through software distributors and major
retailers with a suggested retail price of $29.95.
WING COMMANDER II: VENGEANCE OF THE KILRATHI is required to play
SPECIAL OPERATIONS 2. To date, the Wing Commander line has sold more
than 500,000 units worldwide and garnered a host of awards, including
Game of the Year honors from publications such as Computer Game Review,
Video Games and Computer Entertainment, PC Games Plus (Australia) and
Tilt (France).
Quantum Quality Productions Proudly Presents
Solitaire's Journey
This is our newest product (To be released May 1st), and it's a block-
buster. Solitaire's Journey entices you with 105 of the best solitaire
games, clearly and beautifully brought to your computer screen. Solitaire's
Journey is not "JUST" solitaire, it is much, much, more. There are Quests
in which you much explore a mansion, playing solitaire in each room. There
are Journeys that take you into competition with the nations best players.
In the Journey you will travel through the heartland of North America
visiting both large and small towns. there are also tournaments, in which
you play a series of pre-defined games and compete to get the best possible
score. There are ten pre-defined tournaments to compete in, but you can also
define up to ten others with your favorite games. Compete to beat your own
average or compete against a friend's average. Your history is completely
tracked in every facet of the game. Your are shown graphically your average
in each game, quest, journey, and tournament. The ten best averages are
kept in each area. It truly is "The Game for a Lifetime".
Highlights
==========
- Four Quests / Rich and beautifully detailed graphics.
- Four intricate journeys throughout Mexico, Canada, U.S.
- 105 individual games.
- Challenging tournament play.
- Complete graphical history of each game.
- Complete 'game average' records.
- An abundance of two deck games.
Available for the IBM and Amiga. Price $59.95.READYSOFT AND EMPIRE PRESENTS:
Pacific Islands: Team Yankee II
The much awaited sequel to Team Yankee is now here. Pacific Islands puts you
in the year 1995 and in control of an American tank platoon whose mission is
to reclaim Yama Yama, a strategically important group of islands in the
Pacific. The five islands of Yama Yama have been invaded by disaffected
Soviet communists back by North Korea, severing one of your most secret and
vital communications links.
You must act quickly to eliminate the enemy in this desperate race against
time. Pacific Islands will test your strategic abilities as you simul-
taneously deal with multiple objectives through over 30 nerve-clenching
battles. Only if all five islands are liberated can your mission be called
a success!
Pacific Islands includes a full briefing for each mission, and the same fast
action and 3-D graphics you came to expect from the original Team Yankee.
And just like it's predecessor, Pacific Islands is so real you can smell the
smoke!
Available April 1992 for IBM PC and compatibles, Amiga and Atari ST.
Suggested retail price $49.95 US.
Distributed by ReadySoft, 30 Wertheim Court, Suite 2, Richmond Hill, Ontario,
Canada, L4B 1B9, (416) 731-4175.SSI INTRODUCES BOLD NEW ENGINES AND TITLES TO FANTASY ROLE-PLAYING
PRODUCTS; ENTERS NEW CATEGORY
Dark Sun, M, and Great Naval Battles to Debut during Summer CES
Chicago, IL, May 28, 1992 -- Computer games developer Strategic Simulations,
Inc. (SSI) will unveil new engines, features and categories when the company
introduces three new computer games during the Summer Consumer Electronics
Show.
"SSI is taking a pioneering role in computer games development with exciting
features and enhancements never before seen in an SSI computer game,"
according to Kathleen Watson, SSI Director of Marketing. "The technology
will debut with the company's new DARK SUN, M, and GREAT NAVAL BATTLES games
to be released early this Fall," she explains.
DARK SUN: Shattered Lands
Game Category: AD&D Fantasy Role-Playing
Versions: IBM PC (September); Cluebook (September); Expansion Disks (November);
Amiga (December); Expansion Disks (January 1993)
DARK SUN: Shattered Lands expands SSI's highly-acclaimed ADVANCED DUNGEONS &
DRAGONS series with a vast new universe to explore. DARK SUN introduces
AD&D game players to a new 16-bit engine. SSI has made a quantum leap in
technology with the launch of this new engine; over 45,000 man-hours went
into its development. This is the first new engine since the popular Pools
of Radiance. Based on the DARK SUN game world from TSR, Shattered Lands
takes game players into a harsh, desert world ravaged by sorcery. The player
andhis party must create a rebel force powerful enough to destroy the evil
the sorcerer-king's army. This game is destined to further entrench SSI
as the leader in the fantasy role-playing category.
M
Game Category: Science-Fiction, Fantasy Role-Playing
Versions: IBM PC (August) - $59.95; Cluebook (September) - $14.95
Amiga (September) - $69.95
Macintosh (November) - $59.95
What is M? M is SSI's newest science-fiction, fantasy role-playing adventure.
This new 16-bit graphically-based engine was designed using Autodesk's 3D
CAD system. The game features state-of-the-art graphics, full-continuous
score, full-screen isometric view that scrolls smoothly, and detailed anim-
ation and special effects. The cinematic scenes and rich animation gives
M the look and feel of a full-scale film production. This is the first in a
series of M games which feature an undercover team of men and women. They
are called to the planet Monsoon to help free kidnapped diplomats. M will
be available in August.
Great Naval Battles: North Atlantic 1939-1943
Game Category: Simulator
Verisons: IBM PC (August) - $69.95
Amiga (November) - $69.95
Grate Naval Battles: North Atlantic 1939-1943 is SSI's first combat sim-
ulator. Set in the North Atlantic during WWII, it is a single-player game
that allows the player to be either an Admiral, Fleet Commander, or Ship
Commander of a single ship like the historic Bismarck. Players can simulate
certain scenarios or the entire campaign ranging from 1939 - 1943. Great
Naval Battles features instant replay and a large on-line database. Game-
play is greatly affected by weather conditions. Visual graphics and cine-
matic portrayals of WWII events brings more dimensions to this historical
re-enactment. Great Naval Battles will be available in August.
SSI is one of the leading computer fantasy role-playing publishers and is
most noted for its ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS line of computer products.
The company is recognized as the premier wargame publisher, and based on
industry rankings, is also one of the top ten entertainment publishers in
the United States.
VIRGIN GAMES AND TRILOBYTE ANNOUNCE FALL RELEASE OF THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED
CD-ROM INTERACTIVE DRAMA: THE 7TH GUEST
Consumer Electronics Show, Chicago, IL, May 28, 1992 -- Heralded by
industry watchers as one of the most ambitious multimedia undertakings
around, publisher Virgin Games and creator Trilobyte, are working towards
a Fall 1992 release of the Interactive Drama THE 7TH GUEST, the first
CD-ROM-based interactive computer game to incorporate 3D graphics, live
action, speech, and a musical soundtrack.
Based on an original story and screenplay written by Matthew Costello, the
first Trilobyte Interactive Drama to be released by Virgin Games features
a record-setting thirty-six mintues of full motion ghostly video and
dialogue recorded by live actors and a musical soundtrack by The Fat Man of
Wing Commander II fame.
Eight primary actors and about fifteen extras were cast to play out the story
of Henry Stauf, an evil toymaker whose work holds a sinister secret. When
a series of children die in mysterious circumstances after buying his toys,
the local community begins to ask questions and the plot thickens when Stauf
himself meets an untimely demise. The game begins when six guests are
anonymously summoned to the late toymaker's remote hilltop mansion, now
eerily vacant.
"The 7th Guest is like a real movie - it's a rollercoaster ride," says
Trilobyte's Graeme Devine. The big difference is, he says, that the player
is given a free rein to follow the story's development any way he pleases,
following characters and exploring the mystery of the giant house. "The
mansion has 22 rooms, and each room has its own secret and puzzle to
solve." In much the same style as horror classic The Shining, The 7th Guest
has been designed to constantly hit the player with a combination of
straightforward movie-style shocks and more general eerie unsettling
imagery. "There are parts of this game that are going to scare the player
to death!" Devine boasts.
Two years of painstaking graphical renderings has resulted in a true 3D
environment, allowing the player to walk around the mansion with total
freedom and watch as scenery scrolls and rotates perfectly around as the
player changes his point of view. According to Devine, due to The 7th
Guests' groundbreaking use of full frame animation for the CD-ROM and the
addition of Morph renderings (as seen in the movies Terminator 2 and Star
Trek 6), this game is so huge it would fill no less than 3000 360K conven-
tional floppy disks. "Each of the rooms in the house took us at least
a month to produce," reveals Trilobyte's Creative Director Rob Landeros.
This attention to detail has not gone unnoticed. After an impromtu work-
in-progress preview at last January's Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft's
founder Bill Gates selected The 7th Guest for demonstration during his
keynote address at the annual Multimedia Convention at the Moscone Center
in San Francisco. The 7th Guest was described as "the new standard in
multimedia entertainment" for not only broadening the horizons of multi-
media gaming but exemplifying the future of mass market entertainment.
The PC CD-ROM version of The 7th Guest is scheduled for a Fall release. The
7th Guest is also among one of the first titles being developed for release
in the not-too-distant future for the CD-ROM Super NES player. Suggested
retail for The 7th Guest is $99.99.
We would like to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to all readers
of Game Bytes to express your views back to us. Let us know if you like the
concept we have developed with this type of publication. Our reviewers love
a little controversy and would welcome alternative opinions to their own.
Be prepared, however, to back up your stand if you disagree with what was
written. These are, after all, opinions. Game Bytes truly wants to become
the people's sounding board for the gaming industry as a whole. Through your
comments and feedback, we can not only make our publication a better vehicle
for communicating gaming information, but we can also effectively communicate
our desires for better and/or different gaming experiences to the software
publishers themselves.
We also want to extend and invitation to all to become regular reviewers them-
selves. We have no permanent "locked-in" reviewer staff. Those that write
for us now and excited to do so, but we welcome other reviewers who wish to
have their opinions made known as well. Game Bytes is a magazine for the
gamer from the gamer, and we hope our reviewer ranks will grow. Don't be
bashful - let us hear your views on your favorite games.
In future editions of Game Bytes, we will use this column to publish your
letters, comments, raves, and complaints for all to share. We hope you will
take the time to use it. Editorially speaking, we'll only be concerned about
certain types of four-letter words, so keep those to a minimum, and we'll not
be concerned about censorship. This is a free forum, but a certain sense of
decorum should prevail. Nothing more needs to be said.
There are several ways to send your letters and comments to Game Bytes if you
wish to be heard. We'll start with the U.S. postal system. Letters can be
mailed to:
Game Bytes
108 Castleton Drive
Harvest, AL 36749
Using Compuserve, your letters can be sent to the address:
71441,1537
And finally, using Internet mail, feel free to mail your letters to:
ross@kaos.b23b.ingr.com
Any of these three mailing methods are perfectly acceptable. If you happen to
have an account on EXEC-PC, one of the largest subscription-service bulletin
board systems in the world, you can also leave a mail message for me there.
My full account name on EXEC-PC is Ross Erickson.
We look forward to reading your comments about Game Bytes and how to make it
better with each issue. There are a lot of active gamers out there, and if
we can reach just some of you, we will know this effort is worthwhile.
Hope to hear from many of you soon!
Ross Erickson
Editor and Publisher
We'll be repeating this message in a few more issues of Game Bytes to
encourage readers to respond.
Alan Fusco writes:
Here are some additional suggestions for your magazine:
Put in an "Oldies" Section. There are still some fine "older" games that don't
get much press time.
GB: We are considering adding a section to the reviews that is something
what you're talking about. But we're going to make it an "oldies but
goodies" section. This will be where we can put in a brief note about
those games that are showing their age, but are still timeless classics.
For example, Lode Runner from Broderbund is timeless in its arcade
simplicity and strategy elements, but is greying around the temples.
Put in a "Book" section. There are more and more books being written on
available games. Some are very useful and some provide little information that
is not already in the manuals. I just picked up "Falcon 3 Air Combat". It isn't
a bad book. I would be happy to review it for you.
GB: Great idea, although we'll probably make it a subset of the regular
reviews section.
You might even have a "Worst of" section. Buyers should be warned!
GB: Possibly, but if we run across a real "stinker" we'll want it to have
just as much notice as the golden gems do too. Thanks for your comments.
David Taylor writes:
Downloaded and read your magazine. "Excellent!" -- Supreme Evil Kilrathi in
Wing Commander II.
GB: Thanks very much. We have a creative writing staff, as you can tell!
I have a couple of suggestions:
Create a credits section- list not only those who contributed to the
magazine, but anyone remotely involved, including the ftp sites that carry
your magazine, and a general thanks to your readers. These go over very
well with anybody listed in there, and it's a great way to spread the word.
And be specific! If you edit, program, and distribute GameBytes, list all
of that. If Joe Blow is the official nose-picker and dude who pkzip's
the magazine, list that too.
GB: Great idea, David. We'll start to work on something in the "credits"
area to show our gratitude to those who have assisted us with this
effort.
Thanks again for putting out an excellent magazine. Hope I can be a
contributor for it in the future. Originally thought your magazine was going
to be a mailout thing. I like this much more! The VGA snapshots are an
excellent idea! Wonder how difficult JPEG'd animations would be to
implement.. ;)
GB: RE: JPEG'd animations.....Don't hold your breath, David! :)
Ron Dippold writes:
The only things I'd suggest are: shorter paragraphs (huge walls of
text are intimidating and hard to read) and a bit more emphasis on the
fact that screen shots are available for this particular game.
GB: Good points all, and we'll work on our readability factors a bit.
Finally, and this is just personal preference, a little bit more color
difference between the borders, text, and bottom line menus might
divide things a bit better.
GB: Color, of course, is subjective, so let us play around a bit more with
different color combinations and see if we can come up with something
even better looking. A nice logo-ed Game Bytes ANSI background might
look interesting as well.
"Cosmic Jeff" writes:
Regarding the scoring system...
I have always preferred the scoring system. It may be a bit arbitrary,
but it is a quick way to see what the reviewer's overall opinion of the
game was. I often do not want to read EVERY review, but I am drawn into
reading reviews of highly ranked games, notable titles/software companies,
and games with excellent screen-shots.
Furthermore, so often the reviewer's words can be a bit unclear or even
misleading. One can easily send a mixed, confused, or even the wrong
signal. Enthusiasm for great games are diluted by minor complaints about
small weaknesses. On the other hand, weak games often receive better reviews
than they deserve. I have been buying games for 10+ years, first for
the C-64 and now for IBM...and I have experienced this confusion and
paid for it enough that I learned to go to the scores first and then
read the reviewer's words.
As for the scoring being dated...let it. A score should reflect
what is current and state-of-the-art. A great EGA game that would have
recieved an 8 several years ago rightly deserves a 4 today. If I go out
and buy a game, I want the best available now...not what was excellent in
its day. A score should say "With all the technology and techniques
currently available, this game is this close to where it should to be
considered among the best in today's software."
That is my opinion on the subject of scoring. I have always considered
scoring important in game reviews. :)
GB: Hmmm. We're still in court over this issue. I'm still not totally
convinced that a single number can justify whether a review should
be read immediately or read at all. I know they have their utility,
but it's almost like an easy way out to just plop a number down, and
then write something to justify that number. Our reviews are trying
to be as comprehensive as possible and we WANT our readers to read the
entire review. Not to say a numbering scheme will get in the way of
this, but I'm not sure how it will encourage it either.
Another idea...
You may want to review the latest in shareware games available.
Nowadays, there are many shareware games that are just as good, if not better,
than commercial software. For example...Galactix, Commander Keen in Goodbye
Galaxy, and Castle Wolfenstein 3-D. Also, because more users can "afford"
to get shareware games...your market will be even broader! Even include
them in the rumors and upcoming releases sections!
GB: Oh definitely. Look in this issue and you'll see a full scale review
of Castle Wolfenstein 3-D. This is one hot game, and Apogee and other
shareware developers deserve our coverage as well.
Kirby Stiening writes:
Recently ftp'd issue 1 of Gamebytes. Feel that it's a classact.
Nice balance of game types. Graphic screens are appreciated.
Only regret is that on a 40meg HD, I will not be able to keep more
than the current month. Are there plans to archive the issues
somewhere?
GB: Definitely. Each issue will be stored on CompuServe, many major FTP
sites, EXEC-PC in Wisconsin (world's largest BBS with over 200 phone
lines), and of course, we'll be archiving them here in case someone
desperately needs to get a back issue quickly.
David Masten writes:
Nice job on Gamebytes #1! Very professional looking. I especially like
the included game screen shots.
GB: Thanks very much! We're working hard to improve with every issue.
I gather you've noticed the "definite" rather than "definitive" in the
scrolling title text. Some sleepless nights near the release date, huh?
:-)
GB: OOPS! Missed that one.
If you want to add other features, how about a tips/cheats/walkthrough
feature?
GB: Another great idea. I like the idea of some walkthrus included in
the issues. In fact, our review of Nova 9 this issue comes pre-
cariously close to being a walkthru-review combination.
Shin Young writes:
well, i have read your first installment
(kind of strange. i tried F10 to see the graphics, nothing. later,
the second time i read it, it worked! )
GB: Hmm. Well, glad it worked out. With the myriad of machines out there
with a gazillion different configurations, I'm surprised we haven't
run into more trouble with this than we have.
anyway, i was very impressed by the whole layout, etc.
i expected just a text file and got a much more.
excellent job. (especially the embedded graphics).
GB: Thanks again, and be sure to keep spreading Game Bytes around to your
local BBS or FTP site.
Russell Sparkes writes:
Congratulations, I think it's an excellent idea, currently have oly one
suggestion - Would it possible to put the size of each article somewhere in
the status bar so we know how much we have to read?
GB: Even better than that, we have a plan to put in the "elevator bars"
along the side of the review to show you how much you've read and
how much you have to go to the end.
Apart from that, keep up the good work, You've got one more reader here.
