Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Game Bytes Issue 08
AIR FORCE COMMANDER by Impressions
Reviewed by David Pipes
Impressions is a fairly new company on the American market, and as such
its products are not quite as well known to gamers as the more
established firms. But if Air Force Commander is any indication, they
will soon be known for interesting strategy games with solid gameplay.
Air Force Commander is another wargame set in the Middle East. Having
said that, there is really no other quite like it. It is not turn-based
like usual SSI-style wargames, but instead goes for continuous, pseudo-
realtime play. It uses no hexes, depending on a huge scrolling map of the
entire region. Supply is not abstracted, but depends entirely on physical
factories, oil refineries and the like which are visible on the map.
There are over 20 scenarios included with the game, and mention of a WWII
battle disk (which I have not seen). The scenarios cover situations
ranging from two small Persian Gulf states feuding with a few squadrons of
aircraft to a few massive, regional conflicts complete with superpower
interventions. The scenarios are rated quite well for difficulty.
The map is one of the central features of the game, and can be viewed in a
number of different ways. It is drawn with clear graphics which are more
utilitarian than gaudy. It is easy to tell the different installations
from each other, and military units are also pretty easy to distinguish
from one another. Since the area is largely desert, the map may seem a
little sparse at first, but this turns out to be an advantage during play
- too many fancy designs would clutter the screen and reduce the reaction
time which the player needs. It also allows the game to run quite quickly
- I have to cut the speed on my 486/33 in order to have a chance, so this
game will do well on most machines which are currently in use.
The map can be viewed as from a satellite, giving a regional look at the
conflict, or it can be zoomed to close in on a specific area. At first
the player will be scrolling around like crazy trying to find targets, but
a short look at the tutorial in the manual will make this much easier.
Once mastered, the map views prove very useful, allowing both closeup
analysis of targets and defenses, and wide area coverage to examine the
general threat situation.
The game itself is one of resources and timing. Each side has a fixed set
of military units - aircraft (bombers, fighters, helicopters and AWACS),
air defense units (SAMs, guns and the like) and strategic assets (cruise
missles and similar long-distance rockets). Each side also has a number
of cities which must be defended, and fixed installations such as radar
stations, factories, oil wells, refineries and other strategic facilities.
All of these elements must be handled correctly in order to win the
scenario; and all the while, your enemy is attacking you in real-time.
Once you see the interactions going on around you, even the smallest
scenario is no longer simple. This is the beauty of this game: a number
of seemingly simple elements are combined into a surprisingly challenging
whole.
Each unit uses supplies to function: fuel, ammunition and spare parts.
The supplies come from the corresponding refineries, factories and depots
actually on the map. They in turn must receive raw materials from other
areas on the map in order to maintain production. Bases and depots have
stockpiles of some goods, in case of an interruption in the supplies.
In order to operate a unit, it must be activated, which means it begins
chowing down fuel and ammunition. Even if just sits on the runway waiting
for trouble. So you can't just activate everything and wait for the
enemy. In addition, units take time to move around or become useful for
combat, so the player has to actually anticipate the areas which will see
action, in order to defend them well. Likewise, the intensity of attacks
must reflect the availability of supplies; sometimes a long campaign of
continuous small attacks is all the supply net will sustain. Self-control
is a necessity.
As the game progresses, the enemy will be attempting to accomplish three
goals, just like the player. First, of course, is complete air supremacy.
This is judged by the ratio of available aircraft on each side. Lose
enough planes and all the supplies in the world will not save you. This
seems to be the most common cause of victory or defeat.
The second possible game-ending situation is massive destruction of
resource centers. Once you run out of supplies, you can't fight anymore.
So both sides will usually devote some attacks to the enemy production
sites, in hopes of forcing an otherwise powerful opponent to shut down
its' forces prematurly.
Lastly, the player can win by demoralizing the civilian population. This
is a result of cumulative combat losses, destruction of resources and the
bombing of civilian centers like cities and water plants. This can prove
a surprisingly dangerous tactic, especially if the enemy neglects his
defenses in an attempt to overwhelm with attacks.
Thus, the player has to activate only the units needed, and only for as
long as they are needed. He needs to monitor damage and repair efforts,
and track the actual movements of opposing units. All of this at once.
This is the heart of the game, and it is indeed capable of rattling
anyone.
The players units have value beyond their resources. Fighters and bombers
are rated for effectiveness, defense, and offense, and have different
speeds. Radar units can see great distances, but move them too far away
from a defensive unit and they are history. Ground defenses are usually
quite good, but they eat supply like candy, weakening the player slowly
without even undergoing attacks. Unit functions must be balanced against
missions, another challenging problem as fatigue begins to overtake the
prime units and secondaries must be selected quickly.
All of these factors come together in a very satisfying way. Fighters can
be sent in a few minutes before bombers to scare away enemy patrols and
reduce their airborne radar coverage. Interceptors will then take off; if
they get through, the bombers will have to turn back or die. When the
bombers actually reach their targets, they can attack safely from high
altitude, or risk destruction in a low-level run. Attacks result in
satisfying explosions which alleviates the abstract feel of the planning.
I like the ebb and flow of the game. You can watch the approach of planes
and react, causing more changes, until both sides are fully committed and
the battle is temporarily out of your hands. Sometimes, units will sneak
around and come from odd directions, surprising the player with an attack
on a crucial installation. Fatigue takes a toll on units. Radar units
must be positioned forward before an attack, then guarded and pulled back
while your forces regroup for the next effort. Small mistakes mean the
loss of a plane or three; big ones will open massive holes in your
defenses through which the computers' forces will pour. This is a game of
constant concentration and no small nervousness, all the way until the
end.
The game is always played against the computer, but it has a good AI and
does very well. I do play at a fairly fast speed, which allows the
computer to take advantage of my mistakes, but it is quite capable even
when purposely slowed down. It seems to develop a plan and stick to it.
Impressions has done a good job with the enemy.
The graphics are perhaps a bit old-fashioned and sparse, but they are
functional and quite fast. This game would not really benefit by the
addition of flashy bitmaps and icons, so the minimalist approach is best.
Besides, the combat graphics are quite satisfying.
Sounds are used as cues to events. I use a Sound Blaster, and had no
troubles. Again, they are more functional than decorative, and help
concentration rather than break it.
The scenarios are varied, and represent all sizes and many types of
conflicts. Some are limited wars, others are desperate fights for
survival. They range from a few days to over a month, thus creating
different resource situations for the player to deal with. I found that
they all present a challenge.
The manuals are in black and white, and tend towards the utilitarian. But
they have one of the most useful short tutorials I've ever seen, and
plenty of information on the units and the region. This is the one area
that could be made more flashy and decorative, but then the price would go
up, so again the choice makes sense.
All things considered, this is a surprisingly engaging game. I have seen
a number of high-res graphics-rich games which were slow and had boring,
predictable play; this is a game with simple elements which combine to
form a very rich playing environment. For those who prefer a challenge
over eye-candy reaction tests, this game is a winner. I would
particularly recommend it to people who have been playing action or
arcade-style games, and have not really tried wargames. The real-time
aspects provide a feeling of action and immediacy usually missing from
wargames. In short, this game will appeal to boardgamers and arcade
freaks alike; quite an achievement. Impressions is off to a good start.
Air Force Commander requires 640k RAM and VGA graphics. A mouse and hard
disk are recommended, and it supports Ad-Lib and Sound Blaster cards. I
found it to run very fast on a 486/33, so I will recommend it for a 16MHz
machine. I would welcome comment from any of you AT users out there, as
I suspect it will even do well on those; I just have no hard info on that
yet. The game contains both 3.5" and 5.25" disks.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by J. David Pipes. All rights reserved.
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ Game ³ Amazon: Guardians of Eden ³
³ ³ by Access Software 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 û SVGA ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Sound ³ û PC Speaker û AdLib û Soundblaster û Soundblaster Pro ³
³ ³ û Pro Audio Spectrum û Roland ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Control ³ û Keyboard û Mouse ù Joystick ù Gravis GamePad ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Memory ³ ù EMS ù XMS ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Size ³ 9.6 Megabytes ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Other ³ Mouse HIGHLY recommended ³
ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
Reviewed by Ron "Big Bwana" Dippold
Return with us now, to the days of yesteryear! It's 1957, and the Amazon
basin is still an unexplored heart of darkness (hey, I have a license to
mix geographical metaphors). This area of the world holds some particular
fascination, obviously, as I have played at least four adventures named
"Amazon" or something similar, and not a single one named "Compton." This
is the latest entry in the field, and it's an impressive one.
It's 1957, and your domineering older brother Allen Roberts has disappeared
while on an expedition in the Amazon. Word has finally gotten back to you,
along with a mysterious package in the mail. You both work for Allister
Research, which works for the government - but it's up to you to find him,
without the help of the government. There's vague intimations of great
discoveries and supernatural powers to increase the atmosphere and add to
the story.
Everything is laid out like a movie serial. Remember the Lost City?
Actually, I don't, but I've heard of it. And I've seen some of the other
serials of that time. We're talking action and adventure city, here! It's
neatly divided up into "chapters" with predictably cheesy names such as
"Chapter 1: Terror in the Jungle".
After every section of the game ends, because you've performed the
appropriate actions (or at least you appear to have), the screen fades to a
framing title shot and an ad for the next section: "Don't miss Chapter 2 -
A Secret Code!" Will Jason escape? Or will he be piranha food? The next
section opens with a title screen for that chapter, plus a recap of the
previous chapters, just like a real serial. This is actually a good way to
split up your gameplaying. After you finish a section, save the game,
crawl out from under your rock, and remind your family that you exist.
The game has the atmosphere down pat. The hairdos and clothes are right,
the cars look right (as far as I can tell, I'm not a 50's car expert), and
in general things are reproduced well, including the concern about the
Communists. You've got to decode a message from your brother with the
Orphan Annie decoder ring you played with when you were kids.
The action actually doesn't start in the Amazon. Well, it does in a way
with a cinematic sequence where Allen's party is attacked by unknown
assailants wielding arrows. But you start out in Woodland Oregon,
blissfully unaware of what's gone on. Your first item of business is to
break into your brother's lab after dealing with his shrewish secretary,
then to break into a top secret vault where some of his information is
stored. Watch out for the guards. In other words, you're not heading off
to the Amazon right away.
The graphics and sound here are top notch - Access put a lot of effort into
this. There are many digitized live-action sequences. Most of them aren't
full screen - they're a small part of a static screen, but are as large as
they need to be. However the opening animation with the expedition getting
attacked is quite impressive. There's also a lot of digitized speech -
it's not of the highest quality, but that's probably because of the
Soundblaster quality and compression. It's certainly easily
understandable. They certainly didn't spare either the animation or the
digitized sounds.
The game even comes with an extensive library of VESA SVGA drivers - almost
anyone with an SVGA card will be able to take advantage of it.
The screens themselves are mostly standard VGA. You've got a few typical
types of screens. First of all, there's the standard action screen which
lets you move around and do various things. There's the conversation
screen where you can do the standard "which one of two or three responses
do I give?" routine. There's the narration screen, which acts like a
voiceover narrator in the movies. And then there's your general animation
type of screen.
Adventure players are going to already be familiar with the interface -
perhaps too much so. It's the standard Sierra point and click interface -
choose an action from the icon bar and click on things.
Time out here... the glut of games with this interface gets me down,
sometimes. I miss the Infocom days, when you could say "Open the mailbox
and look inside," or "Give the red card to Floyd and tell him to go to the
control room." The point and click interface is a breeze to use and makes
the game more accessible, which is why it's so popular, but it also makes
some of the subtle puzzles almost impossible. It can also make it easy to
miss critical items among the background crud, making it necessary to click
everywhere on the screen lest you miss that critical speck of dust in that
pixel in the left corner.
On the other flipper, considering the large number of really horrible
parsers that would require you to spend time figuring out which of fifty
possible ways to say "Turn on" the program wanted, maybe it's a good thing.
Most parsers weren't anything beyond the simple "verb subject" garbage
(including Sierra's), but now we can't get anything with a decent text
interface other than those from Legend. Okay, let's return to Amazon now
that I've pontificated to my heart's content.
You'll recognize the icons on the bottom. From right to left, they're
look, use/push, take, inventory, climb, talk, exit, hint, and disk. The
interface, while simple, is a little clumsy. Unlike Sierra games, you
can't cycle through the various choices with your mouse. You have to move
back down to the icon bar or use the function keys to choose an action.
The Exit button is supposed to let you move around by clicking, but it
doesn't work very well (the movement algorithm is done, he gets stuck
easily) and you'll find yourself returning to the keypad to move. However
you quickly become used to the idiosyncrasies and compensate for them.
They don't cut corners when something different is called for - most action
screens are static, with you moving around or just clicking on things. But
where it helps, for instance in your workplace, everything scrolls around
as you walk, since there's a lot of places to go. It looks like they
figured out what they wanted to do and wrote the extra code where it helped
out.
The difficulty is pretty high for this type of game. Okay, it's no tough
Infocom game, but it's fairly tough for a point and click game. So to help
you along they have the hint system, which is bar none the best of its type
I've ever seen, and that includes the one from Leather Goddesses of Phobos
(the original). It's very easy - you set the hint level you're going to
allow yourself, from no hints (hard) to three hints (easy). Then whenever
you're stuck you can click on the hint icon, then click on any thing or
person that you want help with. You'll get the subtle hint which might be
enough to help. Click on the same thing again and you get the more
detailed hint. Click again and you get the very detailed idiot level hint.
Of course if you're set on no hints you won't get any of them...
For example, there's a car in the parking lot of your work. If you click
on it three times you get Hint Level 1: "If you get into this car you could
really light up someone's life." Hint Level 2: "There's something hanging
around in the building that could help you get in the car." Hint Level 3:
"Finding a hanger would open doors for you."
There's a penalty, however. The game keeps track of your "IQ Level." Each
hint shaves away your IQ, and you'll find yourself going from Genius to
Lobotomized if you ask for too much help. Obviously, the higher your IQ
level when you finish the game, the higher your score. There's help at
your fingertips, but only if you want it. This is something I'd like to
see in more games.
I won't give away the plot of the game (I've done enough of that already),
but I will say it is fairly complex. It's going to take some time to solve
this one and you'll get your money's worth. The graphics are hot, the
sounds are very good, and the atmosphere is excellent. If you like the
point and click adventures and you have the machine for it, you should love
this one.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Ron Dippold. All rights reserved.
SCREEN ANTICS: JOHNNY CASTAWAY By Dynamix / Sierra On-Line
Reviewed by Richard Wyckoff
Review Configuration:
486/33 AMI BIOS
Trident 8900C SuperVGA (running 800x600x256 Windows Driver)
Soundblaster Card
Mouse
Ratings:
Graphics: 10
Sound: 9
Playability: 0 (It's a screen saver!)
Originality: 10
Overview: SCREEN ANTICS: JOHNNY CASTAWAY is the best screen saver for
Windows out there, period. Even After Dark pales in comparison. WARNING:
May prove very addictive!
When I first read about this product (It isn't really a game after all!) I
was only slightly interested. I didn't really know what to expect, but
since there is so little quality entertainment software for Windows, I
figured it would be a good addition to my library. After trying it for
just one day, it quickly became one of my sole reasons for running
Windows!
JOHNNY CASTAWAY comes on one high-density disk, and expands to about 2.5
megabytes on your hard drive. A glossy color card contains all the
instructions you need to use the program. The installation procedure will
let you install it to any disk on your system, but I could only get it to
work correctly if I put it on the same disk as Windows. During
installation, it adds a Windows-style screen saver file to your \WINDOWS
directory, which you may access from the Windows desktop or from any
other screen saver that uses native Windows screen savers. After Dark 2.0,
unfortunately, can only run its own modules. Another product,
Intermission, is supposed to be able to run both Windows and After Dark
modules, as well as its own, but I have not tried it. The graphics are 16-
color, and use fixed-size bitmaps, so the higher the resolution of your
Windows graphics driver the less screen space the JOHNNY CASTAWAY graphics
take up. Sound is 8-bit digitized audio, in standard MPC format.
The unique feature of JOHNNY CASTAWAY is that it actually tells a story.
Everything takes place on a typical absurdly-small cartoon desert island,
with one palm tree right in the middle. Our hero is a bearded, pot-
bellied sailor, who spends his time doing the day-to-day things any
shipwrecked mariner on a desert island would do: eating coconuts, fishing,
sleeping, bathing, jogging, and, of course, trying to get rescued.
When the screen saver activates itself, you see an introductory picture,
and then Johnny and his island appear. The position of the island and the
details of the sea/sky background are randomly determined (for 'screen
saving'). Johnny's world has a six hour day and a three hour night, and
you may specify when the day begins by using the setup feature for the
module (from the Windows Desktop menu.) If it is night time, the sky and
sea background are different, but everything else is the same. Depending
on the time of year, there may be various decorations on the island, as
well. For instance, for the last week of October, a jack-o-lantern sits
on the front of the island.
There are two categories of events that can happen to Johnny while he is
walking around on the island: the first is the 'normal' activity, one of
many, many funny animations such as shaking the tree for a coconut, taking
a bath, looking through a spyglass in the wrong direction as a plane or
boat whizzes by in the background, fishing for and catching one of a
variety of items, and on and on; the second is an 'end-of-scene'
animation, a longer and funnier sequence after which the screen is cleared
and then redrawn, to prevent burn-in. Usually, there's five to ten
minutes of normal activity, and then an end-of-scene.
Compliments are due to Dynamix for squeezing so much graphics and sound
into such a small amount of space. The feel of the animation is similar
to that in Willy Beamish (also designed by Dynamix's Jeff Tunell), but
there are more frames in each animation. The high resolution makes up for
the limited color palette, and the animations themselves are easily
cartoon-quality. When Johnny tries to eat a squid that he catches, and it
grabs onto his face, there's several seconds of highly detailed struggle
before Johnny eventually gulps the still-living sea creature down. When
he accidentally hits the airplane with the coconut he is throwing at it as
a signal, the plane bursts into flame and dives into the sea while the
pilot parachutes down past the horizon, presumably to find a tiny desert
island of his own. The sounds accompanying these events are limited to a
few cartoon-ish grunts, mumbles, and boings, and the same sounds are used
in many different ways. For instance, the first part of the tune that
Johnny hums while fishing is looped for his rain-dance chant. Similarly,
the graphics are recycled, but not to the detriment of the program. For
instance, the coconuts (a very small bitmap) are used for several funny
routines, and the seagull that lands on top of the tree also figures in
more than one animation.
For the first few days I ran JOHNNY CASTAWAY, I watched everything that
happened to Johnny with avid interest. After that, I had seen most of the
normal events that could happen to him, and I would only watch for the
climactic animations. Even so, when I compare notes with a friend, we
find plenty of normal animations that the other hasn't seen, not to
mention the climaxes themselves. Also, by looking at the (and altering)
the SCRANTICS.INI file that JOHNNY CASTAWAY creates, we were able to
discover a bit more about how the program works.
This .INI file keeps track of a number of different variables, most
notably one called "Days". Every time you are watching the screen saver
and day turns to night or vice versa, the "Days" counter is updated. This
controls the appearance of some of the special animations, although it is
not immediately obvious exactly how. It _is_ obvious, though, that the
more days Johnny has spent on the island, the bigger the raft he is
building gets. Eventually, he must try to escape, but I have yet to see
that sequence. The .INI file also keeps track of the date and time, to
control time based special animations. Santa Claus, for instance,
apparently flies by on Christmas Eve. Dissapointingly, there seemed to be
no special animations for Halloween, besides the pumpkin, of which Johnny
didn't even acknowledge the existence.
This screen saver is the most exciting entertainment product I have seen
in a long time. It couples an original idea (An original idea in the
computer game industry? *gasp!*) with ingeniously applied graphics and
sound to come up with a program that will probably still be occupying
space on your hard drive long after 'The Magic Sword of the Death Witch,
Episode XI' has been erased. What's more, Dynamix has plans to release
modules for JOHNNY CASTAWAY, and probably entirely new products in the
SCREEN ANTICS series. Looks like another winner for Sierra!
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Richard Wyckoff. All rights
reserved.
ED. It seems great games attract great reviews and Front Page Sports
Football is no exception. We're pleased to be able to offer 3 different
perspectives on this ground-breaking football simulation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
FRONT PAGE SPORTS: FOOTBALL by Dynamix/Sierra On-Line
Reviewed by Ken Fishkin
GAME TOPIC
"Front Page Sports Football" (FPSF) is a pro football simulation. It
works on three orthogonal levels: you can control the movement of players
on a particular play ("player level"), you can control the calling of
plays ("coach level"), and you can control which players run those plays
each week ("gm level").
Opponents may be either human- or computer- controlled, and controlled
through either the joystick or the keyboard. Regrettably, they may not be
controlled via the mouse.
Caveat lector: there are a million pro football simulations on the market,
and I don't have all of them, or even most of them, or even two of them.
I am not even going to _try_ to compare FPSF to others: instead, I'll just
describe it on a "stand-alone" basis: which of these features you could
find in other competing products is beyond me.
Before going into detail, the technical bits:
COPY PROTECTION
None!
DOCUMENTATION
Mixed. The manual is clear, but I found it very terse. It does have a
nice "technical troubleshooting" section at the end, where they discuss
common hardware problems and how to avoid them.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
386 or better, 640K RAM (at least 585K free), 8MB disk, VGA. My system is
pretty close to this minimum configuration, and I was pleasantly surprised
at program speed.
INTRODUCTION/OVERVIEW
Makers of sports simulations have a tough job, as they have to please 4
different audiences. First, there's the "joystick jockeys", who want
arcade-style movement of the ball-carrier around the field. Second,
there's the "armchair quarterbacks", who want to be able to call plays,
and create their own. Third, there's the "general manager", who wants to
be able to evaluate players, draft them, and trade them. Fourth, there's
the "rotisserie league" player, who wants to be able to do all this with
real players, using realistic statistics.
Dynamix has tried to please 3 out of these 4 audiences, missing only the
"rotisserie league" player: the players and the teams are all fictional.
The team names are similar to NFL teams, and their jersey colors are
identical, but their rosters are not. This is more than simply changing
"Jerry Rice" into "Harry Tice" or some such - there is simply no player
with Rice-like stats on the San Francisco "Miners". I am not _positive_
about this, but it appears that each team has a random set of players,
with no corollary to their real-life analogues.
I'll review the game from the point of view of each of these "audiences",
from the top ("GM level") down.
COMISSIONER LEVEL
Well, actually, there's a level even above GM level, in that you can
configure your league. You are not bound to a 28 team NFL league. The
program offers 5 "packages" of league configurations for you choose from,
containing 8, 10, 12, 18, and 28 teams, respectively. The 8-team league
has CFL-style names/cities/jerseys, the 10 is WLAF-style, the 12 is USFL-
style, and the 28 is NFL-style. I don't know what the 18 represents.
Note that you cannot create arbitrary league configurations. (A hint to
those with slow systems - use the 8 team configurations! You will need to
play a lot of computer-vs-computer games to fill in a season, and they
take 12 minutes per game on my 386SX.)
Once you pick a league configuration, you can twiddle it in minor ways -
you are allowed to set the names of the divisions, and the name of the
championship trophy. Most importantly, you describe for each team whether
or not it is human-owned or computer-owned.
GM LEVEL
Now things get interesting. Suppose you own a team. What can you do with
it? Well, first of all, you can 'configure' the essentials of the team -
its name, its jersey color, your coaches name, the nearest US city (for
weather purposes), and so on. No big deal. Of much more interest is your
control over the roster. Your team has a real NFL-style roster of 47
players: 45 "regular" slots plus 2 slots on IR. Just as in the NFL, a
player placed on IR must remain there for 4 weeks. In the NFL, you only
get so many free IR "moves" - FPSF doesn't impose this restriction.
You can change the players on your team in four ways. Firstly, you may
offer a trade to another team. Somewhat regrettably, you can only offer
"1-for-1" trades: no package deals. Secondly, you can pick up a free
agent player. In a nice touch, the pool changes a little each week - both
with random additions/deletions, and with players who have been waived
from other teams: it behooves you to keep "scanning the waiver wire".
Thirdly, at the end of each year there is a draft - I haven't ended a year
yet, so I can't tell you more about this. Fourthly, at the end of each
year some of your players may decide to retire. The better your team has
done, the more likely that older players will retire - nice. If you don't
want to control roster moves, you don't have to - at any time you can
delegate this to the computer.
All in all, this level is very well done, and a lot of fun to play.
There's only one thing that you may not like. Players are rated on no
less than 8 attributes. This is good news, because it accurately reflects
the fact that different players have different skills, even though they
play the same position - there's "possession" receivers, "deep threat"
receivers, "blocking" receivers, etc. This is bad news, because it makes
it a lot harder to quickly grasp how good somebody is! Particularly when
you're dealing with free agents, you find yourself often thinking "well,
Bob is stronger, but Chuck's more agile, but Bob's smarter, but Chuck's
more disciplined, but...". I think they made the right decision here, but
you may not. Second, another implication of these 8 attributes is that
only a true masochist would think of editing his team stats to reflect
real NFL teams. What's Jim Harbaugh's agility? How good are Cornelius
Bennet's hands? How fast is Joe Montana? How disciplined is Stoyanovich?
In addition to making all these Solmonaic decisions, you'd have to type in
45*28*8 = 10,080 stats! No thanks! Again, if you're really into using
"real" NFL teams, don't use this program.
COACH LEVEL
As the coach, you get to both call plays, and edit plays. The play editor
is just great. There is a little pseudo-programming language that you use
to give directions to each player, in addition to diagramming their motion
on the field. The language is very natural, realistic, powerful, and easy
to use - kudos! A player's directions may be as simple as "block left", or
as complicated as (I actually did this on one of my plays):
Pass cover man-to-man, shading underneath, covering aggressively.
If it's a run, pursuit is balanced
If it's a pass, pursuit is aggressive
On offense, you can dictate real/fake handoffs, directions to run, ways to
go in motion, formation shifts, and even tell the quarterback to use a
random snap count cadence. Passes can either be timed ("throw the ball to
this spot in 2.5 seconds") or check-off ("primary receiver is #81, second
is #84, third is #37").
On defense, you can specify type of man-to-man coverage, type of zone
coverage, whether to blitz (or even to fake a blitz), how aggressive
pursuit/line rush should be, and so forth.
Once the play is designed, you can check it out in practice, against a
sample opposition play if you so desire. Once the play is as you'd like
it, you can save it. Regrettably, the play name can only be 8 letters.
If you're a nerd like me, you'll be in hog heaven with this baby. There's
one significant problem with play editing, unfortunately. When you
specify a play, you tie each position to an actual player - you don't say
"throw to the weak-side wide receiver", you say "throw to #80". This is
good in that it allows you to tailor a play to the characteristics of your
players. Unfortunately, if you actually call this play when #80 is on the
sideline, the computer will run #80 in. Why is this unfortunate? You may
have just taken #80 _out_ of the game to give him a rest! I was plagued
with this on running plays, as I do "running back by committee" - I have
to check my roster every single time I call a running play and tell guys
to get back off the field. Dynamix is in a hard spot here, as sometimes
you _do_ want automatic substitution. It should probably be made an
option when you call the play. At any rate, be warned.
If you don't want to design your own plays, you certainly don't have to -
Dynamix has supplied 200 default plays. The only problem is that they
tend to have rather cryptic names like "EVLFKBL3", or "ICTRLTEG". Yuk.
Play calling is done by bundling 32 plays into a "playbook". You are
allowed to switch playbooks at the half, and you have a playbook for
offense and also for defense. To call a play, a window opens, and you see
a matrix of 8 rows and 4 columns. Each play in the playbook lives in one
of the 32 "slots". To call it, move the joystick to that slot. This
works fine, except that I wished that it supported a mouse - moving from
play 1-1 to play 8-4 can take some time with a joystick, time that you may
not have to spare!
Both the offense and defense can audible when they get to the line. You
are not allowed full detail in an audible call, only "pass short/long" or
"run short/long", but this is still a great feature - neither offense nor
defense can go to sleep after the initial play call. Nits aside, I had a
lot of fun with this level.
PLAYER LEVEL
Of course, all the above just serves to "set the stage" for the real guts
of the program, the playing of a game! Plays are played out on a nicely
rendered playing field. In addition to getting a lot of nice touches on
the field itself (texture-mapped grass texture, crowds, a waving flag
indicating wind speed/direction, textures showing grass vs. mud vs. snow
vs. artificial surface, etc.), the players themselves are terrifically
done. First of all, they are rather large - I'd guess about 20 pixels
high, if not more. About half an inch. Second of all, they are very
nicely rendered - they have a real 3D "look" to them. Third of all, their
animated positions are very natural and realistic - you'll see players
tilt forwards keying for a blitz, straighten up to go in motion, "pancake"
backwards after a devastating block, spike the ball after a touchdown, and
on and on. This baby is a real treat for the eyes. I apologize to those
of you reading this review in "Game Bytes" - I just could not get PCXDUMP
to take a screen dump during a play. (ED. No worries! We were able to
get it working with a little tweeking.) To actually control a player on
offense, just start moving the joystick when the player gets the ball, and
he'll move as per your directions. You can tell him when to dive, and
also when to try to break a tackle. Passing is a little more complicated.
You see your primary receiver highlighted. By hitting the "B" button, you
can switch to secondary receivers - keep switching, and you eventually get
back to the primary. When ready to pass, hit the "A" button, and away it
goes!
You can play on 3 levels. On "basic" level, you never control a player.
On "standard" level, you can control him if you wish. On "advanced"
level, you _must_ control the ball-handler at all times.
Defense is similar, except that you use the "A" button to switch amongst
defenders.
To show you how nice this display is, I almost _never_ control a player,
and yet my eyes are glued to the screen every play. It's terrifically
done. Every once in a while, players will surprise you, too. Last night
I had a wide receiver lateral the ball before he was tackled - the
trailing back ran for a touchdown!
The players do not suffer from the squatty foreshortening I've seen in
other simulations. This is done by narrowing the camera angle.
Unfortunately, you pay a price for this - you can only see about half the
field at any time. This is irritating if, say, your running back is
running near the edge of the cameras field of view. You could switch to
another field of view, but this is hard to do quickly, because of.....
THE ONE REALLY BONEHEAD MOVE
Generally, the user interface in this program is great. There's one
place, though, where they really screwed up. The program allows you to
position the camera at 8 different locations, corresponding to the compass
rose. Now, how would you map those locations to keys? This is hardly a new
problem, and there is a standard solution - the famous "calculator
compass" we're all used to, with 8 being 'up' or 'north', 2 being 'down'
or 'south', 4 being 'left' or 'west', and so forth. For reasons known
only to Dynamix, they assign "1" to North (or maybe South), and "5" to
South (or maybe North). Side views are 3 and 7. This is _totally_
counter-intuitive. Bllllllppphhhhhh.
OTHER PARTS OF THE GAME
The game supports all the various extras - penalties (although only a
highly selective subset), weather (both temperature, precip., and wind),
overtime, time-outs, 2-minute warnings, injuries, the coin toss, you name
it. It's only missing the halftime show!
STATISTICS
Stats are good, but could be better. There are full team and individual
stats for the most recent game, but they are not saved for older games.
This is too bad - if I'm playing Atlanta in week 5, I may want to see what
they did in weeks 2-4.
Each team keeps accumulated year-long stats, both team and individual.
The league also keep accumulated year-long stats. Unfortunately, there is
no "record book".
SOUND
There's a standard piece of music - it's nice enough, but you get tired of
it pretty quickly.
During the game, there are two levels of sound effects. First, there are
grunts, groans, and "whaps" associated with contact during a play.
Second, there are a lot of speech snippets used for calling the calling
the play ("red, thirty two, hut, hut..."). This adds a lot to the game.
GRAPHICS
I've already discussed the outstanding play rendering, but I'd also like
to give a tip of the hat to the graphic design used in the static menus in
the other parts of the game (GM level, for example). A very crisp, clean
color scheme with smooth, fluid fonts - a terrific job.
SUMMARY
Dynamix has brought a lot to the table with this program. It's got its
flaws here and there, but overall I was _very_ impressed. This isn't the
ultimate football program, but it's pretty close!
--------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. After writing the review, I've found that Rich Heimlich has
accomplished the herculean task of entering a full 1992 NFL league. His
league is available as "fpsf92.zip" from wuarchive.wustl.edu in the
/pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS directory. Kudos to Mr. Heimlich! Front Page Sports
now can appeal to all football fans, no matter _what_ their emphasis!
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Ken Fishkin. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
FRONT PAGE SPORTS: FOOTBALL by Dynamix/Sierra On-Line
Reviewed by Malcolm Diallo Moore
Well, after weeks of waiting, I saw and gripped a copy of Dynamix' highly-
touted football sim a couple of nights ago (much to the chagrin of my
fiancee). It looked really good on the outside, and I couldn't wait to
get home to open it up, so when we sat down to eat, I ripped it open like
a kid in a candy store. First, let me tell you what you gotta have to run
this thing.
THe box says you GOTTA have: a 386SX or better coprocessor, DOS 5, 640K of
RAM, and of course, VGA. They would LIKE you to have at least 2MB of RAM,
a mouse, a joystick (two if you got friends, you have to have a stick if
you want to play a friend), EMM386 or any other expanded memory manager,
and a sound card (according to the box, all the Sound Blasters, the MT-32
and the Thunderboard are supported).
Well, first crack at the manual reveals...hey...this thing suffers from
DOSitis pretty bad. I mean, eight-character play names? Come on!! Who'd
figure that the name SGSTRT_1.PLY stands for "Shotgun-Short Pass Right"?
That's not all...all plays, as well as formations and game plans, are
limited to DOS 5 standards. I would have hoped that you could at least
give the play a comprehensive name, although using the DOS standard does
allow you to save as many plays as you like, and 200 plays come with the
game standard. You can, of course, create your own plays, and the way
Front Page Sports Football (FPSB) allows you to create plays is unlike any
other football game for the PC that I've seen (and I've seen just about
everything.) I'll explain more on this later. However, I still do have a
few more gripes about this "simulation":
1) No people on the sidelines. The box claims that FPSB is so real, that
if I want more realism, I'd have to suit up on Saturday afternoon. Okay,
so where are the coaches? Where is the media? The sideline is empty
(There are, however, people in the stands, unlike Mike Ditka.)
2) You can't use the mouse to control players on the field! This sounds
like a plain bonehead maneuver on the Dynamix people. You can use the
keyboard, or a joystick (which is what they recommend), but no mouse?? And
the boneheadinest thing about it is that you can use the mouse almost any
other time. What was the deal with not being able to use it on the field?
My momma could write a routine to control the QB/player with a mouse.
3) I like the fact that you can create independent leagues, but who was
the bonehead that decided how these leagues would be implemented? Here's
the deal: You can create two types of leagues: A career league, and a
single season league. A career league is where the players in the league
rack up stats from year to year, there is trading done, there are drafts,
etc, but you can't change the players' names!! You can only change their
jersey numbers. So basically you got a bunch of no-names that get to rack
up on career stats. Then, at the end of the year, you get some _new_ no-
names in the draft. The single season league is just that...a single
season league. That is, career stats don't get updated over seasons.
There is no draft, only intersquad trading during the season. But you can
change player names!! Seems like Dynamix started cuttin corners. Also, I
would have like to be able to have more flexibility when creating leagues.
You have five choices when creating leagues (8, 10, 12, 18 or 28 teams)
but I would have liked to be able to create a league with as may teams,
divisions, or conferences as I wanted (I know it can be done, it would
probably have been a lot easier to do it this way). Also, you don't build
teams from scratch when creating a new league. You have to copy teams from
other leagues (thus eliminating the possiblity of changing player names
when creating your teams.)
4) The team colors are limited. Ideally, I would have had a color
palette of sorts, where you could create nd name your colors, then address
them to the proper part of the uniform. You only get a handful of colors
for the "light" (home) and "dark" (away) jerseys, and two handfuls of
colors for the pants. I think FPSB does itself a great disservice by
limiting itself to that poor a selection.
5) The thing runs slow on a 386SX-16. If you don't have at least a
386SX-25, I wouldn't bother. Unless, of course, you like slow games. I,
of course don't have this problem because I have a 486SX-25 at home, and
it blazes on my machine.
Well, if you haven't already decided not to buy it, do buy it. The above
are just quibbles of mine, things that I would have done to make it an
even better product than it is. The presentation is slick, the graphics
are a bit better than Mike Ditka, the movement, however, is a sight to
see. Watching a game of FPSB is almost as good as watching it on a color
TV. I've seen the following happen:
1) a receiver make a 180 degree cut and leap toward an underthrown pass;
2) a receiver make a leaping TD catch in the back of the end zone;
3) a QB fumble the snap and the ball rolling and bouncing 20 yards from
the line of scrimmage, with the entire offensive line racing to catch it;
4) a pass tipped, and nearly intercepted;
5) a running back with the ball trying to drive against five or six
defensive linemen;
6) a receiver do a dance after making a TD reception.
And I ain't talkin about one-frame-he-has-the-ball, next-frame-he's-down,
either. I'm talkin fluid, realistic, football tackles here. There's
probably about 10 frames between the time when the defender grabs your
knees and when you finally hit the ground. Those Dynamix people really
did a good job on this one (although I would have hoped the graphics could
have been a little crisper--I ain't complaining though). Try practicing
some plays...you'll get a feel as to how the players act, with no
defenders in the way.
You want instant replay? FPSF, IMHO is the supreme when it comes to that.
You got 8 different camera views (actually there are 9, but that overhead
camera is WEAK so it doesn't count), plus, you can move the camera
wherever you want on the field. For example, if you pick the southeast
view, you can move the camera from the southeast corner to the northwest
corner; you'll always be looking northwest. You can move the camera as
the play is being executed. You can stop and save the play (as many as
you like). You can load plays and replay them. You'll throw Mike Ditka
out of the window when you see this replay module.
Play editing is another plus for this game. You can control just about
any aspect of a play that you want, and FPSB divides it into two parts:
Before and after the snap. You can make a receiver do just about anything
(of course, it won't tell you if it's illegal or not. You have to make
that decision). Speaking of which, there are actually penalties! And not
just holding and offsides either!! But anyway, you can control exactly
what a player does before or after the snap via a script you can edit.
For example, you can have them wait for the handoff, run to a certain
point, etc. There's a lot that I can't even explain here.
Like I was saying before, there are actual penalties, and they actually
occur in the game! Now your 8 yard reception on a 4th and 3 fake punt
actually has a chance of getting called back...for what? Ineligible
receiver downfield! It doesn't have as many penalties as I would like (ie
intentional grounding, unsportsmanlike conduct, clipping, etc.) but it
does have a few. THe book lists 15 different penalties, I don't know
whether or not more exist.
Stats are in there like Prego, as promised, and there's beaucoup of them.
There's even highlights from the games played that week. I wish there
was a way you could view them like in a movie or something, however,
you're limited to loading each one by one and running them. Depending on
what kind of league you have, stats rack up and carry over between
seasons, or they are wiped at the end of the season. Unfortunately, this
kind of sucks because you're running a bunch of no-names, unless they plan
on coming out with "Draft Disks" or something like that, this kind of
defeats the purpose, cos you're playing with a bunch of no-names.
All in all, this is a pretty solid football game, much more than Mike
Ditka and NFL could offer. I haven't seen John Madden II or Tom Landry
Strategy football, so I can't offer any comparison to those. But it's
what I wanted more of in Mike Ditka. But I know it could have been so
much more.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Malcolm Diallo Moore. All rights
reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
FRONT PAGE SPORTS: FOOTBALL by Dynamix/ Sierra On-Line
Reviewed by Gavin Adams
Requirements: 386SX or better,
640K, DOS 5.0, VGA,
Hard Drive (8MB Space)
Recommended: Mouse, Joystick(s),
Sound Card, 2MB RAM,
Expanded Memory
Supports: Thunderboard, SoundBlaster, Pro Audio Spectrum +/16,
MT-32 Compatibles
Review Machine: DECpc 433ST (486/33 EISA), 16MB RAM (4MB Expanded),
Mouse, Joystick, EISA SCSI Hard Drive, TSENG ET-4000 SVGA
Adapter, 17" Multi-sync Monitor
The box cover says, "If you want more realism, you'll have to suit up on
Sunday afternoon." Except for a few rough spots and the typical "nested
menus" of other Dynamix games, Front Page Sports: Football (FPSF) lives
up to this claim. For armchair quarterbacks and coaches, FPSF allows a
diversity of control from participating in college and supplemental
drafts to snapping the ball and throwing that 50 yard touchdown. In
other words, FPSF has a good balance between the 'arcade-stye' games and
those of pure strategy.
Installation:
Packaged in the standard Dynamix box, FPSF contains a manual, floppy
diskettes (3.5" or 5.25"), a quick reference card, registration card, and
various advertisements for other Dynamix/Sierra games and services. The
118 page manual does a good job of covering installation of the game and
explaining how the game works. The manual does assume an intermediate
knowledge of football, and covers the operation of the computer game, and
_not_ the real game. For those who wish to get a better understanding of
the game of football, the Appendix "Recommended Reading" lists five
books which cover football from the basics to understanding specific
defenses and player positions.
The installation procedure and installs FPSF in its own directory
structure. There is a bug in the installation procedure however, no
matter what destination directory is selected, the installation procedure
installed the game in \DYNAMIX\FOOTBAL. Annoying, but using File Manager
from Windows (or any other directory management program) properly moved
the game to the directory where I wanted it installed. Note: FPSF has
many sub-directories for storing plays and playbooks. Make sure you use
a utility that moves complete directory trees.
Playing the Game (Arcade Style):
Once FPSF has started, you are presented with the options of jumping into
the "QuickStart" game (Washington vs. Buffalo), or starting an exhibition
game where you select the teams, the level of play (basic, standard,
advanced), time per quarter, and the opponent to play. The final option
is league play, which allows for a single season or career play in a set
of pre-defined leagues.
After a game has started, there are two different screens that the game
alternates between: the high-res Playcalling screen (640x400x16 VGA)
where 8 rows of 4 plays (32 total) and other coaching options are
selected, and the action screen (320x200x256 MCGA) showing the field and
players where the plays are carried out. In both sections of the game
(coaching and action), there are 3 different levels of play: basic,
normal, and advanced.
For coaching, the basic level gives the player the option of a generic
set of plays, both offense and defense, such as Run Left, Run Middle,
and Pass Short Right. The basic plays are listed by text. In standard
mode, you select an offensive playbook and a defensive playbook for each
game half. FPSF comes with 36 pre-defined offensive and 12 defensive
playbooks, made up from over 250 supplied plays. Each playbook is geared
for a particular team style such as Pass-Agressive, Run-Conservative, and
Run-Balanced. During play selection, plays are shown as chalkboard
diagrams. In advanced mode, both defensive and offensive playbooks are
selected as in the standard mode, but the plays are depicted by the row
and column where they reside (i.e., row 1 column 2 would be displayed as
'1-2'). When playing against a human opponent, this reduces your
opponent's ability to decipher your game plan.
Besides play selection, the Playcalling screen shows game score, play
clock, time outs left per team, down and yardage to go, where the ball
is, and wind direction and speed. Other actions besides calling plays
that can be are calling time outs, substituting plays, calling in special
teams, and breaking the huddle (going to the action screen).
In the action mode, there are also the same three levels of play. In the
basic mode, you snap the ball, and can call audibles (4 different ones,
depending upon the opponents lineup). In normal mode, you snap the ball,
and _may_ take control of the ball carrier. For defense you can take
control of any play you choose. In advance mode, you _must_ control the
ball carrier on offense and may control any player on defense.
The graphics of the players is very good. With over 8,000 rotoscoped
frames of animation, you get a good feel for how a play has been run, and
in order to keep your interest, special animation's are also used such as
spiking the ball on a touchdown, diving for player, and pointing to a
player who commits a foul. The field of view doesn't cover the field
from side-to-side, so it can be hard to determine what coverage you wide
receivers may have, but the ability to control different players makes up
for this field of view deficiency. You can also use the number keys on
the keyboard to change views during a play.
Controlling players in FPSF has a lot of depth. As the quarterback, you
can "check" receivers and throw to one that's open, or throw timed
passes. You can throw a bullet (fast and short) or lob the ball for
those longer plays where getting the ball over the defensive players is
key to making the play. Other options during play include breaking
tackles, diving for yardage or to tackle the ball carrier, leaping, or
calling a time out on the field. Movement control is limited to 8
directions, which allows for both analog and digital joysticks to be
used. Field conditions such as snow or astro-turf and other 'laws of
physics' can also affect player movement and ball characteristics.
Once a play has been run, the referee may be shown if a first down,
touchdown, time-out, or other special event has occurred. A short
description of the play is shown, with the option of going into the VCR
to see an 'instant-replay', or going back to the play calling screen.
While in the VCR, you can view the previous play, load or save a play to
disk, and change the camera angle and playback speed.
Play Editor :
FPSF consists of a complex play editing system that allows for creation
of new plays from scratch or existing plays, and the building of custom
playbooks. A play is composed of two sections: before the snap and after
the snap. In the 'Before the Snap' section, initial player positions are
set, in-motion movement is scripted, zone defenses are marked, and the
type of snap call is set. In the 'After the Snap' section, play movement
is controlled, what each player's function is (block, run, pass, etc.),
and timing is set. The editor uses an intuitive logic system, and
reviewing some of the default plays gives the play designer a good
understanding of how a play is created.
Any time a play is loaded, it can practiced. This allows a player to get
the timing down for pass plays, and allows the defense to see how well
different plays can stop a particular offense. Completed plays can be
incorporated into a player's playbook (which can be password protected).
League Action:
The complexities of FPSF are not only on the gridiron; they are also in
the strategy of managing and coaching a professional football team. In
league play, you can create a single season or career league. You sign
players, manage the injured reserve list, scout for talent by in other
clubs or free agents. In a career league, you also sign new players
during the drafts (college and supplemental), and assign time during
training camp. Besides player management, you can also design custom
playbooks from the plays that come with the game or those designed by
yourself or others.
A league can consist of 8, 10, 12, 18, or 28 teams. The 28 team league
matches that of the National Football League; the others seem to be the
equivalent of other professional football leagues (e.g., World Football
League). When a new league has been selected, the information is copied
from defaults supplied with FPSF, and all teams are set for computer
owned and managed. To 'buy' a team, you select the team you want, and
from the team data menu item change the owner from 'computer' to 'human'.
A human controlled team can be password protected for multi-player
competition in a league.
Player statistics and names can be changes in a single season league;
player names cannot be changed in a career league (although the jersey
numbers do match those of actual NFL teams). Looking at the data files
for a league do show the players names in ASCII (a simple task to change
names via a disk editor). Players also have 8 basic ratings (speed,
acceleration, agility, strength, hands, endurance, intelligence, and
discipline) that indicates how good a player is. This is different from
other football games where a player may have a passing rating if he was a
quarterback, or a rushing rating for ball carriers. In FPSF, all
player's abilities for their position are based off of the basic ratings.
Two other ratings, the effective and potential, respectively establishes
a player's up-to-the-second and maximum that can be achieved during a
player's career.
During a season, numbers are gathered for all normal football statistics,
and are collected not only for each team, but also for every player in
the league. In career play, these statistics are kept from season to
season. Most statistics can be printed, but they cannot be saved to a
file, and getting to all the different statistic pages can take many
mouse clicks. For instance, I didn't find a method for printing the
rosters of all the teams except by clicking on each team and selecting
'Print'. The ability to print selective statistics would be a nice
addition.
After managing a team and playing half of a season, a few things have
become apparent. Overall statistics indicate that _all_ teams have a
higher passing vs. rushing yardage then in real football. Running the
quarterback acquires more rushing yardage then most running backs.
Certain running plays such as reverses and sweeps almost always end up
with negative yards, or at the best a few yards gain.
Summary:
The computer AI is decent, but I have noticed some 'deficient' plays
(kicking a field goal when down by 5 point with less then 20 seconds to
play). The amount of statistics is nice, but sometimes it is a hassle to
get the set of statistics you want. Player management is also
cumbersome. To prepare for one game, it took over an hour to offer
trades, move players from assigned to open slots, and view my teams
capabilities to those of my opponents' (I see these type of issues being
addressed by shareware or other FPSF add-ons).
One aspect of league play that should be changed is this: if no game was
in progress and saved to disk, no default league is loaded. You have to
go through 2 menu levels and a dialog box to load a league. If a game _
is_ in progress, the league that the game is taking place in is loaded.
The graphics overall are aesthetic, and the switching from MCGA to VGA
mode makes
reading the numbers a lot easier then most other games. The
mouse control is not sensitive enough when selecting menu items or
designing plays, and is nonexistent when running a play.
Overall, Front Page Sports: Football is a very good representation of pro
football. The basic engine used for play is realistic _and_ entertaining
(this will become very important during the Football Drought of '93 after
the Super Bowl :). This game, like many other Dynamix games, is a
quality product worth the time and money.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Gavin Adams and Satori Software. All
rights reserved.
GREAT NAVAL BATTLES by SSI
ACTION STATIONS by RAW Entertainment
Reviewed by Alan Fusco
Review 1 : GREAT NAVAL BATTLES OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC (GNBNA)
Publisher : SSI
Requirements : 640K (2Mb for Sound), VGA, Mouse, Hard Drive, 386+
7.5megs of free hard disk space.
Optional : SoundBlaster, AdLib, Roland LAPC-1
Copy Protection : Document look-up
Review 2 : ACTION STATIONS! 3.2 (AS!) + SCENARIO/UTILITY DISK
Publisher : RAW Entertainment
Requirements : No special requirements. Can be played from a
floppy disk. CGA+, if installed on a hard disk
the program needs ~1.9megs of free space.
Optional : Hard drive recommended, no sound support
Copy Protection : Document look-up
Review Machine : 386DX/40, 8 megs memory, 109meg & 80meg
Conner hard disks with SuperStor Pro 3.00
compression utility, QEMM386 v 6.02, Hyperdisk,
Dos 5.0, joystick, MS Mouse, SoundBlaster card
version 1.05.
INTRODUCTION
So, you want to be an Admiral. Not of one of those new fangled, modern
era ships loaded with those "unmanly" missiles, but you want to command a
fleet of battle-hardened dreadnoughts. You want to aim those 16" guns and
duke it out man-to-man. Heck, you don't even want to bother with those
"cowardly" submarine types or those noisy, smelly aircraft carriers. Why
"them thare" planes take all the fun out of ship to ship combat. What's a
wargamer to do! Well, you are in luck! At the time of this review two
major simulations, covering the time periods from 1939-1943 (GNBNA) and
1922-1945 (AS!), can be found on the software shelves. In addition, Fleet
Commander (RAW, successor to AS!) and Task Force 1942 (MPS) are scheduled
to be released "any day now". Action Stations! has been around for
several years and is now in version 3.2. Great Naval Battles of North
Atlantic is a newcomer, all dressed-up in "state of the art" graphics.
How do these two programs compare? They both cover similar time-periods,
ships and locations, although Action Stations! includes the Pacific and
Mediterranean areas.
This review will attempt to compare these two programs. As such, a major
part of this review is a table comparing the features of both of these
games. I hope to include Fleet Commander and Task Force shortly after
these games are released.
GAME PLAY
Action Stations!
This game is a classic. It is well debugged and designed. Unfortunately,
it is not designed to today's standards. Much of the game play is NOT
graphical. Actions and reports are selected via a pull-down menu system
resulting in various screens crammed with information. These screens are
well-designed, but crowded none-the-less. The amount of information
presented in these screens is truly amazing and they will take some time
to digest. Fortunately, the game is NOT real-time based. Each turn
calculates events taking place in a 3 minute chunk of time. Between
turns, you can leisurely examine ships status, lookout/radar reports,
fleet deployment, fleet readiness, fleet batteries, current hits,
bearing/range data, armor penetration data, and a detailed report on your
selected ship. In addition, you can plan your attacks and strategy
without being "under-the-gun" <g>. The only graphic displayed is a CGA
battle-plot similar to the battle maps used during WW2 (US Navy's Naval
Tactical Data System). This plot shows land masses, friendly ships,
targets, course & direction, searchlight cones, smoke, stack gases,
relative size of the ship, aircraft, explosions, torpedo spread and
capsized ships. Only information seen is presented, thus preserving the
"fog-of-war". All the information is there, it's just "ugly" by today's
standards.
The manual is well written and contains a wealth of information, not just
on game play but details on gunnery combat, torpedo combat (excellent),
radar and visibility, ship characteristics and an excellent tactical
section. The manual is very clear on what is modeled and it even gives
several paragraphs to caveats of the game. This is a PURE strategy game.
There are no arcade elements. Action Stations! was designed to accurately
model surface warfare during 1922-1945 and to be used as an aid to
teaching surface combat tactics.
The AI is outstanding and was extensively tested against actual combat
experience. For example the author states: "the Battle of Denmark Straits
was reenacted by duplicating the exact track of the ships, the weather,
wind, environmental, and gunnery factors. The program deterministically
scored its first hit on the Hood within 120 yards of where the hit
actually occurred. Hit rates for the engagement were duplicated within
10%". You won't do better than this in any game! Don't plan on winning
many battles without having a least a basic understanding of tactics as
given in the manual. Action Stations! also has two scenario generators.
One allows you to accurately place each ship and land mass while the other
will randomly generate a scenario for you based on certain constraints.
The add-on disk includes a swap utility (swap ships or add and delete
ships in any scenario), additional ships and scenarios, a utility that
creates fleets, and an improved scenario generator.
Great Naval Battles of North Atlantic
This game is a visual feast. It is graphically based and takes place in
real-time. Everything from the introductory sequence to the arrangement
of game play screens is well executed and pleasing to the eye. In fact,
it is so pleasing that you won't find the faults in the game for quite
sometime! GNBNA gives you an, "I am here" feeling. You hear each battery
fire. You hear the sickening sound of each hit. You see the spray of
water from near misses. All these elements draw you into the game.
The game play screens are divided into a flag bridge, navigation station,
main battery station, secondary battery station, torpedo station, aircraft
operation station, and damage control station. The flag bridge gives you
an overview of operations (large plotting map) that by and large gives you
the same type of information as AS!'s CGA plot map. In addition, you can
toggle a switch that will give you the maximum range for main and
secondary guns and torpedos. You can get this information in AS! but it
is text-only. It is extremely helpful to see these ranges as circles on
the plot map. It really helps plan your strategy. In addition, you can
set course, speed and targets from this panel.
The navigation station has a smaller map, a main viewing area (1-8x
magnification) and controls to set rudder, heading, speed and release a
smoke screen. The main and secondary gun stations are similar. They have
a small plot map, a binocular view, target information, manual or
automatic gun control and a top down view of your ship where you see and
HEAR your guns fire. The torpedo station is similar except that controls
are all torpedo related. The aircraft operations station allows you to
launch attack, recon or search planes. On a carrier (one-type is included
in the game) you can actually see the planes take off-- just remember to
turn INTO the wind or your carrier will never launch a plane. Also note
that it takes time to ready a plane. In the damage control station you
can assign damage control parties to any section and you can visually
select compartments to flood. Unfortunately, this part of the game is not
well handled, in that each ship is set-up with the same artificial
compartment-grid.
Surprisingly, for SSI, the manual that comes with GNBNA is very good,
containing almost 200 pages! There are sections on: history; game
scenarios, operations and campaigns; ship data; weapons data; armor
penetration data; game play; and tactics. In addition, GNBNA contains an
on-line "database" of information accessed within the game itself. This
information is helpful and has digitized pictures associated with it. Yet
the AS! manual supplies much more useful and detailed information. GNBNA
consists of individual scenarios, operational level games and a full
campaign game where you have to manage your entire fleet for the duration
of the war.
At the present time there is not a scenario builder, although one is "in-
the-works". While GNBNA is stable (it hasn't crashed on me), it has the
usual number of bugs that seem to plague new releases these days.
Fortunately, none of these interfere with game play. (Just don't waste
your time sending up spotter planes because they won't inprove your hit
rate due to a bug in the game.) Be sure to read all the READ.ME files.
There is important information included in these files that is not present
in the manual. And YES a mouse IS required. The game won't start
without one.
COMPARISON
The table below will give a detailed comparison between the two games. You
would think that GNBNA would be a sure winner. It has superior graphics,
a well-designed graphical user interface and breathtaking sound support.
However, it isn't that cut and dry. You will notice that I haven't
mentioned the AI in GNBNA. This is because, to put it bluntly, the AI
isn't all that good. If you want to win at GNBNA just remember one
strategy- destroyers are cannon fodder. The AI preferentially targets
destroyers, therefore all you have to do is send your destroyers in and
have your capital ships merrily toss round after round into their target.
Until your cannon fodder are destroyed, your capital ships are immune from
attack! Even without destroyers, the AI is relatively easy (compared to
AS!) to beat. I played several comparison games using the Admiral
Grafspee vs. the Exeter, Ajax and Achilles scenario in both games. I was
able to consistently win (commanding the Grafspee) in GNBNA, while the
same strategies in AS! resulted in dismal failures. AS! is a superior
tactician. It is unpredictable and strong.
TABLE OF COMPARISONS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program Parameters Action Stations! GNBNA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Classes (Actual and Hypothetical)
United States
BB 16 (4) n/a
CA/CL 9 (3) n/a
DD 12 (1) n/a
Netherlands
BB 0 0
CA/CL 2 0
DD 1 0
Japan
BB 7 (3) n/a
CA/CL 10 (3) n/a
DD 11 (1) n/a
German
BB 6 (2) 3
CA/CL 7 1
DD 6 2
Italian
BB 3 0
CA/CL 8 0
DD 6 0
British
BB 7 (8) 6
CA/CL 15 (2) 8
DD 11 2
CA 0 1
France
BB 6 0
CA/CL 6 0
DD 9 0
Russia
BB 3 n/a
CA/CL 5 n/a
DD 6 n/a
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gun Types Modeled
Total # of types included 77 21
Smallest bore 3" 4"
Largest bore (includes "never built") 20" 16"
Automatic Firing of Guns yes yes
Manual Firing of Guns yes yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gun Parameters Modeled
ROF (rate of fire) yes yes
Range yes yes
AP (armor penetration) yes yes
Table Provided showing range/AP data EXTENSIVE MINIMAL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Torpedos Modeled
Number and type of torpedos 8 7
Speed/Range Data low/med/high low/med/high
Automatic Calculations yes yes
Manual Firing/Calculations yes yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gun Directors Modeled
Main Main/Alt/Local Main/Alt/Local
Secondary Sec/Alt/Local ?
stbd & port guns
Tertitary stbd & port none
Individual Directory Control yes yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gun Batteries Modeled
Main yes yes
Secondary yes Some sec are
not modeled
Tertitary yes no
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Factors Influencing Gun Hits, Speed,
Visibility, etc.
Time of Day yes ?
Wind yes ?
Sea State yes yes
Squalls yes yes
Turn Rate yes yes
Smoke Generation yes yes
Radar/Lookouts yes yes
Crew Readiness yes ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Engagement Realities
Night Engagement possible yes yes
Searchlights yes no
Starshells yes no
Fire illuminations yes ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aircraft
Attack craft (shore and carrier based) no yes
Recon yes yes
Improve Gunnery yes no (bug)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Damage Control Details
# of strike zones 42 ?
List yes yes
Flood Magazine yes yes
Counterflood yes yes
Fire yes yes
High Speed Mechanical/Engineering Breakdowns yes ?
Progressive Damage yes ?
Active Control of Damage Parties no yes
Active Control of Counterflooding yes yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Characteristics Modeled
Class yes yes
Dimensions yes yes
Max speed yes yes
Type Torpedos yes some BB/CL
torps are
not modeled
Torpedo mount characteristics yes yes
Searchlights yes no
Smoke generation yes yes
target size yes yes
rudder status yes yes
crew quality yes ?
gun directors yes some missing
main guns yes yes
Sec guns yes some missing
tert guns yes no
Watertight integrety/floatation
(sea worthiness of undamaged vessel,
takes into account the age of the
vessel) yes ?
Armor plating 18 areas ? areas
Ammo inventory/location yes yes
Damage Control Abilitities of Ship yes generic ?
Damage Control Equipment yes generic ?
Steering Engine Status (manuverability) yes ?
Status of fires
(how quickly can spread, equipment
to fight, crew ability) yes ?
Engineering capabilities and redundancy yes ?
# of aircraft yes yes
shell hit locations 42 locations locations
tailored for are generic
each ship class ???????
torpedo hit zones 6 areas ? areas
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Differences of Crew, Ships and Equipment
(Based on Historial Data)
Overall Crew Quality yes ?
Shell dud rate yes ?
Torpedo dud rate yes ?
Fire occurance rate yes ?
Flood Equipment/Vulnerability yes ?
Fire damage vulnerability yes ?
Steering/Engineering repair rate yes ?
Steering vulnerability yes ?
Magazine explosion rate yes ?
Day gunfire accurracy yes ?
Starshell quality yes no
Engineering reliability at high speed yes ?
Ability to overcome surprize yes ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Simulation Factors
Give formation orders yes ? (bug)
AI Difficuilty levels -3 to 3 none
AI EXCELLENT poor-average
Graphics Poor EXCELLENT
Sound Support No Yes
User Interface Adequate Very Good
Playability EXCELLENT EXCELLENT
Manual Quality EXCELLENT VERY GOOD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scenarios Included
North Atlantic 8 (4) 13
Mediterranean 7 n/a
Pacific 15 (6) n/a
Operational Level Scenarios (2-limited) 3
Campaign Game no yes
Scenario generator yes no
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action Stations! - Number in parenthesis are additions included in the
add-on disk
GNBNA - Repeated attempts were made to contact SSI and producer Ken
Humphries to fill in this table for parameters not given in the
manual. Unfortunately, they did not supply the missing
information.
RECOMMENDATIONS
If you are a true wargamer/strategy-type there is no contest. AS! wins
hands down. While the interface is primitive by today's standards, AS! is
a strategists delight. There is enough depth in this game to last a life-
time! However, if you want to "experience" surface war combat aboard the
mighty battleships of the past and you have the required hardware, GNBNA
is the clear winner. Unfortunately you pay a price for this experience,
and that is a challenging computer player. This doesn't mean the GNBNA is
a bad game. If you don't exploit the AI's weakness, GNBNA can be
challenging. And for a campaign based game, well its the "only game in
town"! I am hoping that the next revision of GNBNA will improve the AI
and that Fleet Commander will bring a state of the art user interface to
AS!.
Here's a freebie. When setting up historical scenarios using the AS!
scenario editor and the soon to be released scenario editor for GNBNA
(hopefully!) there is no better reference than CHRONOLOGY OF THE WAR AT
SEA 1938-1945, The Naval History of World War Two by J. Rohwer and G.
Hummelchen (1992, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD). This volume
gives an abbreviated account of every naval battle that occurred during
WW2!
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Alan Fusco. All rights reserved.
LURE OF THE TEMPTRESS by Revolution Software
Reviewed by Jurgen Appelo
- Specifications -
Title: Lure of the Temptress
Designer: Revolution Software
Publisher: Virgin (Europe) - Konami (U.S.)
Required: EGA/VGA
5.25/3.5 inch drive
640 K
harddisk
Recommended: Adlib/Soundblaster
mouse/joystick
Reviewed on: 386DX/33
130Mb/8Mb
SVGA/SB Pro
Mouse
MSDOS 5.0
- Rating -
Gameplay: 8
Features: 9
Graphics: 8
Sound: 6
Overall: 8
This game is funny, easy, revolutionary and too small. Those of you who
don't like reading reviews have enough information now. For the other two
readers I will present some more analysis on this game.
- Virtual Theatre -
Lure of the Temptress (LOTT) is an adventure game made by the fresh and
sparkling English programming team Revolution Software. It is also the
first game that offers the player a so called Virtual Theatre (VT) system,
designed by the same people, I believe. In most adventure games, like
those of Sierra and LucasArts, the computer generated characters, also
called non-player characters (NPC's) stick to one place in the game. They
never walk around from one screen to another and mostly they are
performing just one kind of animation in only one screen, time and time
again. When you follow a character that walks out of a screen to another
one, it appears to be totally vanished, disintegrated in the air. For
example, in Kings Quest 5 a bear appears in a screen, attacking some bees
after you found a fish. The bear came from nowhere. When you give the
bear the fish he'll walk away. Follow him and you'll see he won't be
there in the next screen. He is gone, forever. It's no magic, it's
stupid.
This is not the case with the Virtual Theatre system in Lure of the
Temptress. All characters have their own lives. The smith is busy in the
forge, and when he gets thirsty he walks to an inn, several screens away,
gets a drink, walks around a little bit and returns to his forge (or any
other order of actions, whatever). The same applies to many other NPC's.
They walk around, talk to each other, buy food, look around and go
elsewhere. It's a little like the walking NPC's in Ultima 7, only in LOTT
they actually have conversations with one another. VT makes you feel part
of a community, in stead of being the only person walking around in an
entire village. This is certainly a strong point of this game. It does
not mean however that all NPC's walk around. The green-grocer has to
keep an eye on his store and the guard just stays on his post. (That's
what a guard is for, isn't it?)
- Introduction -
The introduction informs the player about a happy kingdom and it's king.
The narrator is Diermot, one of the kings subjects. He tells about the
village of Turnvale, where a woman named Selena has taken power and turned
against the king. Diermot unwillingly ends up fighting against the Skorl,
the army of hideous creatures that Selena has rallied. The battle of the
kings troops against the Skorl is lost and Diermot finds himself, after
being knocked unconscious, in a prison in Turnvale, guarded by a Skorl.
The intro sequence is neat, with only a few well chosen colours and
wonderful animated silhouettes of men, horses, birds and a deer. It seems
though that this intro was designed for an entirely different game, since
the atmosphere created by it is completely different from the rest of the
game. But still it's a nice intro, which only could have been made
slightly longer.
- Story -
As apparent, Diermot is the character that is to be controlled by the
player. The playing begins when Diermot wakes up, imprisoned by the
Skorl. He finds a way out of this situation and meets Ratpouch, a boy who
wants to follow him in the adventure that has just started. Diermot talks
to the inhabitants of the village of Turnvale and finds out that a girl
was kidnapped by the Skorl for questioning. With a few other people she
forms the local resistance group against Selena. (Although I haven't
noticed much resistance by them. None actually.) Diermot finds a way to
get her out of the hands of the Skorl. At this point a romance is started
that isn't worked out any further. It seems the writers forgot about it.
After this Diermot decides to overthrow Selena. To be successful he has
to meet a dragon who knows how to do beat Selena. The dragon, my
favourite character, gives him a mysterious item and Diermot goes back to
the village to find a way to get into Selena's castle. There he has to
get past some drunken Skorl and he finds Selena in her room. This last
part of the game did not come up to my expectations. The game was already
finished and destroying Selena was only an animation that could not be
controlled. I'm telling this so that other people won't be as
disappointed as I was when I finally found the lovely lady.
- Interface -
The point 'n click interface is simple. After clicking on a position in
the screen with the left button, Diermot starts walking to that point.
When clicking on a character or item the player is confronted with
information about it. The right mouse button is used to pop up a menu
containing Status, Look, Drink and Examine. One can use the right mouse
button on a person or item for operations like Ask, Give, Bribe, Talk To,
Tell and Use. A history of objects you encountered during the game is
presented when you Ask a character for something. The operation Give is
linked to your own inventory (that can be studied with Status). When
using Talk To you can often choose from several questions. Tell is a
powerful operation that enables you to order characters to do things. For
example, Ratpouch is able to do things that you cannot do by yourself.
You can tell the characters to Go To, Open, Unlock, Push, Pull, Operate,
etcetera. The orders can be placed in sequence so you can actually order
Ratpouch to go somewhere, ask another character for an item, return and
give it to someone else. When you follow him you can actually watch him
do everything you asked.
The shape of the mouse cursor tells you what can be done at the indicated
position on the screen. When it's a normal arrow you can just walk to
that place. When it's a cross it is pointing at an object you can look at
and when it's a directional arrow you can walk to another screen. The top
of the screen hides a pull-down menu with only the essential functions
like Save, Restart, Restore, Sound and Quit.
- Gameplay -
Walking through the village of Turnvale is somewhat different from walking
in other adventure games. This is a result of the VT system. Whatever you
do, the NPC's are just walking by and greeting you. Sometimes the
automatic routing facilities are irritating. When you want to leave a
screen in a certain direction it can happen that a NPC comes from that
direction at the same moment. Both characters automatically get out of
each others way. The result can be that Diermot actually walks all the
way to the other end of the screen to let the NPC pass. It made me rail at
the NPC's sometimes. Another thing that can be a little irritating is
that all characters can walk in only four directions. So when you want
Diermot to walk to a place on screen that is not on a straight horizontal
or vertical line with his current position, you can watch him make some
strange moves.
As I said before, VT makes it possible to watch another character's
actions. You can even watch what's going on in other places. For
example, you can peep through a window and watch the local gossip lady
talk with the green-grocer about his vegetables. This is a very important
feature. You need it sometimes to get valuable information. Remember that
you have to pick the right time to do it. Conversations in rooms are not
adjusted to the moment you peep through a window. They are in Sierra-like
games, but not in reality and not in this game. Your sister doesn't wait
for you to look through the keyhole to start talking about you with her
girlfriends, does she? You have to do it at the right moment.
Another result of Virtual Theatre is the fact that you have to walk
through the village looking for people you have to talk to. Since they
don't stick to one place you have to look everywhere and follow them
through several screens to catch up with them. Some players may find this
tedious, I think it's just realistic. When you know which route a NPC
normally takes (they all repeat their walks over and over again) you can
also just stay in one screen and wait for him to appear. There are more
realistic features in the game. When you see an item on the screen, be
sure to look at it carefully. Smaller items lying on it or attached to it
may be revealed.
In the beginning I found it was somewhat confusing that the screens are
connected to each other in a peculiar way. When leaving a screen in the
south, you can enter the next screen from the west. At first I thought
Diermot always walked in a straight line from one screen to another and
the next screen was just looked at from another direction. But soon it
turned out that the screens are always looked upon from the south and
Diermot just makes an invisible turn to the left or the right when walking
from one screen to the next.
- Graphics -
I don't have much to say about the graphics. They are very nice indeed
and can compete successfully with those of many other adventure games. The
only problem is that there are few screens (about 30, I guess), since the
game is just too small. But again, the pictures that you are confronted
with are really beautiful.
- Sound -
Music only plays during the introduction. While playing you can hear some
sounds like the hammering of the smith in the forge. They sound good, but
it is obvious that most of the time was spent on the graphics. It happened
that I thought I had turned off the sound, because I didn't hear anything
for minutes.
- Final Remarks -
There are two sections where LOTT becomes an action game. Before meeting
the dragon and before meeting Selena you have to fight a beast by slamming
with an axe. When you figured out how to hit the beast, these action
parts are fairly easy. The problem is that the two arcade sections have
nothing to do with the storyline. They serve no purpose at all and are
just there to annoy the enthusiastic adventurers with an arcade section.
The storyline is quite linear, like in most other adventure games. Nearly
all problems can be solved in just one way. There are a few things that
can be done in different ways. Also, some problems can be solved in
random order.
I noticed a few bugs in my version. Like I said before, a history of
items you encountered during the game is administrated. You can use this
list when asking a character for something. It happened that, among the
names of the items, question marks appeared as items in the list. When I
asked an NPC about one of the question marks he didn't understand me, of
course. The best known bug is the one with the tinderbox. The solutions
in the magazines all say it is supposed to be lying in >>censored<<, but
several people, including myself, couldn't find it there. Since all items
are always at the same place, I assume this is a bug. Restarting the game
seemed the only possibility to avoid this problem. The most fascinating
bug was the one that made me discover that Diermot's sprite consists of
two parts (like in many games). One holds the body, the other holds the
legs. It happened one time that the two were exchanged, so Diermot's legs
were walking on his own head.
- Pro's -
> Lure of the Temptress is really funny. Talking to the NPC's was often
amusing and the actions that have to be performed also made me laugh
sometimes.
> The graphics are very nice, including the introduction.
> Gameplay is unique, due to the use of Virtual Theatre. It offers
possibilities not seen in other adventures before.
> The game is easy. It is an excellent game for first-time adventurers.
- Con's -
> The game is not uniform. The introduction and the arcade sections are
completely different, and the storyline also has some weaknesses.
> The end of the game was a disappointment to me.
> Movement of the character can be tedious.
> The game is just too small to be a serious rival of many other adventure
games.
- Conclusion -
When you want a game that is easy to play, with some unique features not
seen before, buy it. But be sure the price is not more than 50 to 75
percent of the price of games like Kings Quest 6 or Ultima 7. Otherwise
you'll pay too much.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Jurgen Appelo. All rights reserved.
ED. MIGHT AND MAGIC: CLOUDS OF XEEN is attracting a lot of attention
these days. It's a quality product (to say nothing of the HUGE box!) and
we're pleased to present two viewpoints on the game.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIGHT AND MAGIC: CLOUDS OF XEEN by New World Computing
Reviewed by Kevin Schraith
Overview
Clouds of Xeen is the 4th in New World Computing's Might and Magic series
of fantasy role-playing computer games. You create and control a six-
member party of various classes and races, exploring an extensive
countryside in your attempt to find and destroy the evil Lord Xeen.
Copy protection: manual lookup, but not encountered that often.
Review Machine: 386/25 clone, 8 MB RAM, Soundblaster, Mouse
The Poop...
Recently, the newest installment in New World Computing's extremely
successful Might and Magic series hit the shelves in a very noticeable
lavender-pink box. Being a faithful fan of role-playing games in general,
and Might and Magic specifically, I rushed right out and bought it. I was
not disappointed.
Installation
When I got home from the store, I fired up my machine and tore open the
box. Before installing, though, I had to kill some other games, because
of the hefty 16 MB of disk space required. There are other system
requirements you should look at before rushing out and buying this game,
as well. You will need an 80286 or better processor, about 16 MB of hard
disk space, at least 2 MB of memory, and a VGA graphics display to install
and play this game. These are not outrageous requirements, especially
given the complexity of Clouds of Xeen, but they may be more than the
casual computer gamer has installed.
After twenty minutes of watching the ASCII-man dance (you'd have to see
the install program to understand), I typed XEEN and away I went. An
entertaining introduction with animation, music, and digitized speech came
up first. If you've seen the demo that has been floating around, you have
already seen this. Then it's on to the game, where you can either create
a set of new characters or use a pre-created party.
Character Generation
I rarely like to use the pre-created parties often provided with role-
playing games, as they usually have hokey names which drive me crazy, so I
rolled my own. The character generation system is, as far as I can tell,
the same one used in Might and Magic 3.
You have an RPG-standard set of character attributes (Might, Intellect,
Speed, etc.) which are randomly rolled. As you roll the dice, the classes
these statistics qualify you for are highlighted. You can roll as many
times as you want, but stats are not super hard to increase in this game,
so I wouldn't suggest spending hours going for perfect scores. Next you
decide on a race, class, gender, and name. Then it's off to free the
Wizard...
Game Play
The meat of Xeen lies in exploring the realm, searching high and low
through caverns and towers and lairs (oh my!) for the means to slay Lord
Xeen. Compared with earlier installments of the series, the puzzles were
a little disappointing, and it involved a lot of hacking and slashing. At
the beginning of your game, however, you do get to choose your "gaming
preference" mode: Adventurer or Warrior. Supposedly, Adventurer mode is
more puzzle-based, and Warrior mode is more for the hack 'n' slash artist.
Choose wisely because, although I didn't notice much difference between
the two modes, your only chance to choose is at the very beginning - after
that, you're locked in.
As for the user interface, input from either keyboard or mouse is
supported. Xeen is laid out with mouse interaction in mind, and has a
large palette of icons along the side of the screen. As with most games,
though, I found the keyboard interface to be quicker and less distracting,
so I quickly abandoned mouse input.
The commands are easy to master, even in keyboard mode, and intuitively
arranged. Function keys F1-F6 correspond to your characters, and the
character information screens are well designed. Inventory is a little
bit slicker in this version, as items are automagically split up onto
different screens by their gerenal type: Weapons, Armor, Accessories, and
Misc. To do anything with an item, you first select the item, then select
the action. This consistency throughout the commands eases the learning
curve, saving time and frustration.
The miscellaneous game controls are conveniently located. You can load or
save your game at any time, with ten save game slots available. A fixed
number of save slots? Say it ain't so! Well, some people may like the
flexibility of more saved games, but with unlimited saves, I find myself
losing track of which save is which. And eating huge chunks of disk space
in the bargain. Ten slots should serve you just fine.
Graphics
One of the key selling points this game has is obviously it's graphics.
Xeen uses the 320x200x256 color VGA mode to it's fullest - 640X480x256
would be nicer, but you're talking CD-ROM size there. The viewing screen
is split into a large 3-D display window, a small overhead map view, a
mouse icon palette, and your character's portraits.
The display window has not inherently progressed much from the early
Wizardry days. The graphics are a heck of a lot better, and you can see
monsters and structures at a distance, but the general idea is the same.
One nice bonus is that the border decorations double as helpful
indicators, marking your protective spells and communicating results from
informational spells and skills.
The overhead map view in the corner is a life-saver. It can display
either a small chunk of your map or a magical bird's-eye view of you
surroundings. The mouse icon palette is functional, but not terribly easy
to read. But then you know my mouse preferences - "mice are nice, but
keyboards are quicker." The character portraits are very helpful, showing
both your characters' condition (by their facial expression) and
approximate hit points (by the color of their "gem").
The game sports some relatively simple yet effective animation, too. There
is an animated prologue and epilogue, and the shops have much larger and
better-detailed portraits. These portraits stay the same from town to
town, but it's still a nice touch. All the monsters as seen through the
main display window have rudimentary animation, and the effects of
attacks, missile weapons, and magic are superimposed. It sure feels good
to finally get that king-sized cartoonish blood-spatter (sorry, no
explicit gore). Finally, when you enter some structures, you get to see a
full-screen animation of that structure's "guardian".
Sound
The sound is another pleasant aspect of Clouds of Xeen. The soundtrack is
not totally repetitive and didn't get on my nerves. In fact, embarrassing
as it sounds, I found myself really digging it at times - usually very
late at night. This game also falls into the rare category of having
digitized speech at some points _within_ the game. And no messy speech
pack to install. The quality of the speech is impressive, though it is
only used in certain fixed locations. Again, if this game were on CD-ROM,
this might all be different...
Compared with Might and Magic III
The game engine did not radically change between Xeen and MMIII; the
graphics seem a little nicer and a couple of new features have been added.
The Automatic notetaking feature is especially worthy of note, as it saves
you from _most_ of the note-taking drudgery. It would have been nice to
be able to delete notes when you're done with them, but what do you want
for nothing? Linked with the note-taking feature is the separation of
irreplaceable, quest-related items out of normal inventory into a slot
where you cannot discard them accidentally. Saves a lot of possible
heartache... Another neat feature is that Banks in Xeen pay interest.
Simple idea, but I've never seen it in an CRPG...
Trouble in Paradise
There are a couple of nagging disappointments in Clouds of Xeen. The Bug
Monster struck again with Clouds of Xeen. This time, the problem seems to
be with the "Save As" function. It works most of the time, but if you
"Save As" within a dungeon, there is a chance that a level's state will be
reset. The map will be blank, monsters will have come back to life, and
treasures will have reappeared for your looting pleasure. This isn't
always bad, but there are some tough encounters you just don't want to
relive.
In addition, you cannot import old Might and Magic characters, as the
MMIII ending suggested you would be able to, but the game balance would
have really suffered if you could have. As a matter of fact, the ending
of MMIII seems to have nothing to do with Xeen, which must be why it isn't
called Might and Magic IV.
Overall Impression
I found Xeen to be a worthwhile purchase. Since Clouds of Xeen has
essentially the same interface and ease-of-play as MMIII, if you liked
MMIII, you should like this. It gave me four or five days of totally
engrossed pleasure, keeping me up until 3:00 AM despite having to go to
work early the next morning. There is nothing really earth-shaking going
on plotwise, but neither is the plot disappointing. All in all, a
satisfying purchase.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Kevin Schraith. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIGHT & MAGIC: CLOUDS OF XEEN by New World Computing
Reviewed by Mitch Aigner
Requirements: (from box and installation guide)
286-compatible or above
2 Meg RAM (1 Meg Extended or Expanded + 583,000 bytes standard)
VGA-compatible display
15 Meg Hard Drive space
Copy Protection: You are required to look up Page x, Line y, Word z in the
manual at two points early on in the game. After that, it leaves you
alone.
Game: Rating 6 (on a scale from 1-10) Could have been better, but read on,
..
This is the latest in the Might & Magic series. It is your basic
adventure/role-playing game where your little band of adventurers goes off
on assorted quests,.. battling monsters, and finding neat magical stuff
along the way. The primary goal is to destroy the evil Lord Xeen, and his
nasty pet. The secondary goal is to straighten out some of the local pr
-blems that the residents are having. Under Xeen's rule, things have
REALLY gone downhill around here in the last few years. There are a few
puzzles to solve along the way (though none are very difficult).
The game also comes with a poster-sized map of the land, and a copy of a
Computer Games Review magazine with a favorable review (which explains why
the box is so big).
Graphics: While the backgrounds are OK, some of the monsters are GREAT.
When under attack, the nasties are animated. Each monster has few frames
of animation, as well as a still-frame for when it is hit. While the
quality of the animation is nothing spectacular, the bit-maps which make
them up are beautiful. Somebody really put a lot of time into some of
these (and didn't put enough time into others). I would also give high
marks to the wild imaginations of the monster-makers,... some of these
critters are really bizzare.
Action: The world is made up of an array of squares. When standing on any
given square, you can go forward, back, left, or right. Your team can
only cover so much ground (depending on the type of terrain) in one day,
after which they will need some sleep. Sleep will restore the health (and
other vital statistics) of all members of your party. Unless of course
you've gone off and let someone get killed, (Resurrections are available
at the nearest Temple, but expect to pay big $). In order to discourage
the practice of just sleeping whenever your team gets a little bashed, the
age of your characters will increase each time, and as they get older,
they get slower and weaker.
While exploring the many different areas, you will run across assorted
monsters. Usually, they appear a few squares in front of you, thus giving
you time to fire off a couple volleys of arrows (most characters have
bows, as well as an in-close type weapon). Once the distance has closed,
you can control each of your 6 characters attack type (weapon or spell-
casting).
Stuff: The weapons/armor system is really complex. Each item can have a
material bonus (i.e. Wooden bow, Gold bow, Platinum bow), or a magic bonus
(i.e Flaming bow, Icy bow, Sonic bow). There are literally THOUSANDS of
possible combinations. It gets out of hand very fast, and requires
frequent visits to the local blacksmiths (and lots of bucks) to get all of
this stuff identified and to determine what is good, and what is bad. And
some of the stuff is really bad (worse than having nothing !). Phil Rice
has come up with a great cross-reference system to simplify this
nightmare (Way to go Phil !). It should be kicking around the net by the
time that you read this.
Interface: The human interface is very easy to use. Just point-and-click
on the icon for the action desired. I found it somewhat easier to use the
arrow keys for movement, and then use the mouse for the rest of the
actions. To cast a spell, just click the SPELL icon, click on the
character who will cast it, then click on CAST. To use a weapon, just
click on the ATTACK icon. If the monster is far away, arrows from all
party members with bows are launched. If the monster is in your face, the
party members will take turns attacking with their hand weapons. It all
happens automatically, making game play very easy.
Problems:
1) Mapping bug: The game has an auto-mapping feature which keeps
track of where you have been. Ordinarily, this would be a great thing,..
if it worked. Unfortunately, it has a bad habit of forgeting areas that
you have already mapped. There are several theories about why this
happens, most of which involve "saving" your game. I do not believe this
to be the case. It seems more associated with disk-transfers in general.
The world is made up of a 6 by 6 array of "tiles". Each tile is 16 by 16
squares which you can occupy. Whenever you cross a tile boundary the game
pauses, and does some massive disk transfers to load in the next tile-
worth of info. This also occurs when entering, or leaving a city,
dungeon, or tower. Anytime you change locale, and see the disk access
light come on, your chance of an automapping failure becomes about 1 in
10.
Once failed, all monsters, items, etc. return. You simply have to map the
area again (but you do get a second round of treasures along the way).
This CAN be advantageous, if you find an area with great stuff (like
"King's Megacredits"), just enter and leave the area a few times,.. the
game will screw-up,.. and you can then go back for a second helping.
Basically, any time that there is a lot of disk activity, you take your
chances. I took 1 point off my rating of the game for bugs. :-(
2) And this is a biggie. There are several places in the game (dungeons,
towers, pyramids, etc.) that you CAN NOT GET INTO. Why?, you ask,...
because they only work with Might and Magic: Darkside !! (the soon to be
released sequel). In other words, what we have here is 1/2 A GAME. You
have to shell out more $ if you want the whole thing. While I kind of
like the idea of "add-ons" for games,.... this is ridiculous. I took 1
point off of my rating of the game for this fact alone. :-(
The other two points were taken off for A) lack of any serious challenge
(little thinking on the part of the player is required. and B) the
extremely cumbersome weapons rating system (I wasted more time (and coins)
trying to figure out what was what than was even remotely reasonable).
OVERALL: This is a cute game (though not terribly challenging). Expect to
spend 40-80 hours playing (40 to rush through, 80 to explore every little
nook and cranny of the world). The graphics are good, the sound track is
OK, and the user interface is easy to use.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Mitch Aigner. All rights reserved.
RED BARON MISSION BUILDER by Dynamix/Sierra On-Line
Reviewed by Sean Malloy
Dynamix's game RED BARON is generally accepted as being the best WWI air
combat simulation available for the IBM PC. With the release of the first
expansion, RED BARON MISSION BUILDER, Dynamix continues to keep this
program head and shoulders above its competitors.
The RBMB package actually contains two separate parts; the first is the
Mission Builder itself, which is a standalone program, and the second is an
upgrade to the original RED BARON program. The upgrade adds the options
'Build a Custom Mission' and 'Fly a Custom Mission' to the 'Fly One
Mission' screen, as well as adding support for rudder pedals like the Maxx
or ThrustMaster rudder pedals, which use the left/right axis of the second
joystick port on your game controller card -- and, for those would-be
pilots who don't want to accept a mission gone bad from dumb luck (or for
any other reason), adds 'Replay Mission' to the options available at the
end-of-mission screen.
Like RED BARON, the RED BARON MISSION BUILDER requires an 80286 or better
system with a VGA display and hard disk; a mouse or joystick is
recommended, and the program supports Thunderboard, Ad Lib, Sound Blaster,
Roland MT-32, and compatible sound devices as well as rudder pedals. Also
like RED BARON, the RED BARON MISSION BUILDER expansion has no manual-
lookup, key disk, codewheel, or hidden-file copy protection; Dynamix is
relying on the integrity of its customers to discourage piracy, which is a
definite plus for them as a company, in my opinion.
For the people who have gotten intimately familiar with the planes in the
original game, RBMB adds five new aircraft to learn:
The Nieuport 11, predecessor to the more famous Nieuport 17, and has
comparable performance; it is slightly more maneuverable, a little slower,
and has somewhat less engine power (which limits its sustained climb more),
and suffers the same problems with losing wing fabric in dives.
The Nieuport 28, an uninspired design quickly relegated to the American
units that couldn't get Spads or Camels, it maneuvers fairly well, but it
doesn't have the speed or ruggedness of the other Allied planes of the
period, and only has one machine gun.It's not a _bad_ aircraft; it's
simply that it can't compete on an equal footing with the German planes
that it goes up against.
The Halberstadt D.II, an early biplane delivering performance comparable to
that of the Nieuport 17 without the Nieuport's wing problems; it has much
more maneuverability than the Fokker E.III, and somewhat more than the
Albatros D.II, but doesn't have the Albatros' twin guns or durability.
The Fokker D.VIII, a high-winged monoplane which was one of the finest
designs from Anthony Fokker, but was plagued by problems of shoddy
construction, which left the wing prone to come off in dives; be _very_
careful diving when flying this plane -- you get _much_ less leeway between
the announcement that your wing is shaking and the 'rriiiip' sound as your
wing fails. Aside from the problem with diving, the Fokker D.VIII is a
light, maneuverable aircraft.
The Siemens-Schuckert D.III, which, like the Sopwith Snipe, was an
excellent design delivered too late to see much action -- it seems to me
that this plane is even better than the Fokker D.VII; if more of them had
gotten to the front, it would likely have been specifically proscribed in
the Treaty of Versailles, just as the Fokker D.VII was.
If you've learned all the tricks used by the famous aces modelled in RED
BARON, RBMB has new ones: D. M. McLaren, William George Barker, Karl
Degelow, Roderick Stanley Dallas, and Ritter von Schleich, among others.
Each of these has their own quirks and personality -- and the program has
expanded the range of maneuvers that the enemy pilots know about and will
use against you -- at least, it seemed to _me_ that the pilots had gotten
sneakier; I'd never seen one pull a barrel roll to pull off in another
direction after I'd started a turn and lost sight of him behind a wing in
the _original_ version of the game.
But the heart of the RED BARON MISSION BUILDER expansion is the mission
builder, which allows you to build missions beyond what the campaign or
individual missions will present you. The mission builder is reached by a
selection off of the Fly Single Mission screen or by typing 'rbmb' at the
DOS command line, and, like the rest of Red Baron, is driven through a
point-and-click interface that, because of all the cursor motion over the
map of the front, _really_ wants to have either a mouse or joystick. The
screens and menus in RBMB have almost exactly the same feel as the screens
and menus in RED BARON -- it was only after some five days of playing with
the mission builder that I discovered that it was a completely separate
program, rather than part of the 'baron.exe' file.
A custom mission is like the historical missions from the original RED
BARON game; they have pre-defined numbers and groups of aircraft flying
predefined paths, rather than the randomly-selected groups of enemy
aircraft that appear during one of the generic mission types of the
original game, and they have a briefing specific to the situation that
occurs in the mission.
The mission builder will let you create flight groups, each consisting of
up to four scout, recon, or bomber aircraft, up to four balloons, or a
zeppelin. Each group can be assigned waypoints, which are indicated on a
map of the front (obviously, balloons don't move and can't be assigned to
attack anything). Each group is given separate orders -- a bomber group
sent to strike a railyard, a flight of fighters flying escort, or an enemy
flight patrolling the front -- based on the waypoints you have assigned.
When building a mission, your first choice is what section of the front you
want to hold the mission over; you can choose any of the sections of the
front from the RED BARON game. Then you can choose what time of day and
what weather conditions the mission will be flown under -- dawn to late
night and clear to complete overcast (with selectable cloud altitude).
Your next step is to create the flight groups and decide where the
waypoints for each group will be. The mission builder assists you in
setting up escort, defense, or dogfight missions -- if you move a flight
group or waypoint onto another waypoint or group, the program will ask you
if the group you are setting a waypoint for is to attack, defend, or escort
the other group (depending on the nationalities involved).
Once you have decided what action will occur during the mission, you choose
what plane and what pilot will fly in each group, designating the plane the
player will fly (unlike the historic missions in the basic RED BARON
simulation, which side you fly for is determined when a custom mission is
built) choosing pilots from generic pilots ranked by quality (veteran,
regular, or novice) or picking one of the aces modelled in the game, then
write up the briefing that the user will see when they select this mission
to fly. To help you become familiar with the use of the Mission Builder,
and to give you some new challenges, Dynamix has included nine ready-made
custom missions for you to play.
There are some limitations to what you can build in a custom missions, due
to the memory limitations of the program. You cannot have more than ten
separate groups or more than eight waypoints (including the starting
position) per group. However, the memory requirements for groups and
aircraft numbers interact; if you have ten groups, each group can only have
one plane in it without running out of memory. If you reduce the number of
groups, the number of 'extra' planes that can be added to the remaining
groups increases:
# of Groups 'Extra' Planes
10 0
9 1
8 3
7 5
6 6
5 7
4 9
3 11
So, if you had 5 groups, you could have a total of 12 aircraft (or
balloons/zeppelins) distributed between the groups without running out of
memory. If a group does not fly all the same aircraft, it 'costs' one
aircraft worth of memory -- for example, if you had 5 groups, two of which
had more than one type of aircraft in them, then you would only have 10
aircraft to divide among the groups.
The number of aces and waypoints does not appear to affect the amount of
memory used to anywhere near the same degree as the number of planes and
groups does; I was able to make every plane in a mission flown by an ace
after I was unable to add more planes without exceeding the memory limit.
After you have completed building a custom mission, you can select 'Fly'
from the File menu, and you will be put into the cockpit of the plane
designated in the custom mission for the player; this allows you to
'field test' your custom missions to find out if you've made them too hard
or too easy. I strongly suggest that you fly a mission you are building
before you consider it finished; what _looks_ fair and balanced can turn
out badly unbalanced or unworkable, just from things like where the sun is
or how long it takes a group to fly from one waypoint to another.
One of the things that was missing from the missions in the original Red
Baron was flying missions where you saw, and joined, a dogfight in
progress. Now you can fly such a mission, simply by designing a custom
mission where two opposing flights find each other, then have your flight
'stumble' across them after they've started their combat. You can also
experience how disorienting a 'furball' really was -- with up to twelve
planes in the air, all trying to outmaneuver each other, any trace of order
vanishes. One of the custom missions provided with
RBMB, which chronicles
Manfred von Richtofen's 78th victory, is such a mission -- with you on the
Allied side.
The only bug I have seen so far is with the graphics for the Fokker D.VIII;
there is a problem drawing the area around the left wing in the view
forward from the cockpit, which will occasionally leave blocks of wing
color on that part of the screen. It doesn't affect the simulation
itself, but the flashing as the blocks are drawn are distracting.
However, the addition of the rudder pedals changes the way that it feels to
fly the planes; moving your feet on the rudder pedals isn't as easy to
coordinate as moving your fingers on the rudder keys, and it takes some
time to get used to it. Because you can hold a rudder position that isn't
hard over to the stops, you also have to learn how different degrees of
rudder use affect the flight of the plane. I found that using the rudder
pedals threw off _all_ of the little things I memorized about taking long-
range shots at recon planes and bombers -- a single tap of the rudder pedal
doesn't do the same thing as a single tap on a rudder key; it depends on
how hard you push the pedal and how quickly you lift your foot. All of the
maneuvers I had learned as requiring _this_ amount of steady pressure on
the '<' or '>' keys took different amounts of pressure on the rudder
pedals, and I couldn't center the rudder at the right time; I had to re-
learn almost all of the maneuvers whose competent completion I'd come to
take for granted -- I was sliding out of turns, overshooting my targets,
and generally getting shot to shreds. It's a different skill, but it pays
off with a better 'feel' to the simulation.
I never did a lot of flying close to the ground with the original version
of RED BARON, and never over the built-up areas, so I can't say for sure
that it appeared in the update in the RBMB package, but the towns appear to
have grown more detail -- if you are flying low enough, there are now
buildings (albeit oversized and spaced too far apart to be realistic, a
concession to the limitations of looking through the cockpit view on your
maneuvering) in the towns that you can fly around, between, and over if
your dogfight drops low enough; with the limits on your view of the
buildings, and the problems of maneuvering close to the ground, a low-level
dogfight in a town gives you a really ugly thrill -- making a perfect turn
to wind up on the tail of your opponent only to clip a church with your
wingtip doesn't even give you enough time to curse before you hit.
The manual for RED BARON MISSION BUILDER is a spine-stapled booklet; the
contents follow the same general format as the manual for RED BARON;
roughly half the booklet is taken up by information about the historical
period and the new aircraft and aces, which includes material on the aces _
after_ the war, some of whom were unable to make the transition from war to
peace; some took up barnstorming for the thrill and excitement, while
others retreated into a bottle, while a few managed to turn their drive to
win into other pursuits. The remainder of the book covers the use of the
mission builder, and is concise and well-written, with numerous
illustrations showing various commands as they appear on the screen.
Besides the bug with the Fokker D.VIII graphics, there are a few things
about the RED BARON MISSION BUILDER expansion that I wish had been included
or done differently. It is a tribute to Dynamix that, aside from the one
graphics bug, all my creebing is about either features I want to see or
personal preferences with the user interface:
The only flight groups that can attack ground targets are bomber
groups, and RBMB won't let you fly anything but a scout plane (although
it _will_ let you assign aces to bombers and recon planes; bombers are
still easy to hit with an ace at the controls, but recon planes are
somewhat tougher targets).
There is no way to 'zoom' the map -- it's hard to place groups and
waypoints exactly where you want them; although the program _does_
have an error margin, and will ask you if you want to have the current
group interact (attack, defend, escort, etc.) the target or group where
you have placed a waypoint, if you have more than one possible target,
you can't always get the right one on the first try.
You can't really create a custom Scramble mission; aircraft always
start in flight, although you can fake a Scramble mission by starting
your group at an altitude of 0. You have to be careful, though; because
of the inaccuracies in positioning your group, it is possible to wind
up flying directly into the hangars or headquarters building at an
airfield.
On the main mission builder screen, there is a bar indicating the
memory usage; the manual states that this bar shows the 'memory
available', but to _me_ the bar as it appears on the screen looks like
it is indicating 'memory _used_' -- the colors for this bar are green
and black, and as you use memory, the green extends from left to right.
While you can change the number of planes in a group from the Group
Assignment screen (which shows the formation, target, mission, pilot,
plane, and ammo for each plane in the group), you can't tell whether
you've gone over the memory limit for a custom mission until you go
back to the main screen; having the memory bar on this screen would be
useful when pushing the mission memory limits.
I would have liked to see some sort of indication of the distance
between waypoints; it's hard to set up an engagement between two
different groups of aircraft that start widely separated unless they
are flying on more-or-less parallel courses; any difference in airspeed
will make one group pass over the intersection of their courses without
seeing each other.
Overall, I would give RED BARON MISSION BUILDER an A-, but that's only
because of it not fitting my prejudices about the user interface; leaving
that out of consideration, it rates an A, and only misses an A+ through not
allowing for ground attacks by scout planes. Since Dynamix will have
dynamic ground targets in its upcoming release of ACES OVER EUROPE, we can
hope that ground-attack missions will appear in a future expansion.
However, even without them, I think that RED BARON MISSION BUILDER is
almost a 'must-buy' for anyone who likes the original game.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Sean R. Malloy. All rights reserved.
REX NEBULAR AND THE COSMIC GENDER BENDER by Microprose
Reviewed by Adam Pletcher
Requirements:
o IBM PC compatible 286/16 or better
o VGA/MCGA graphics adapter
o Supports Roland, AdLib, SoundBlaster, Covox
and Pro Audio Spectrum sound cards
Strongly Recommended:
o 386/20 or better
o Mouse
Copy Protection: One doc check at very beginning of game. Not
necessary in subsequent sessions.
:: PREMISE ::
Your character, the "interstellar adventurer and bungling bachelor
Rex Nebular" has been charged with finding a priceless vase. Rex,
not generally inclined to great feats of courage, has dollar signs
in his eyes as he accepts the quest from an irate colonel. Rex hops
into his ship, the Slippery Pig, and plummets headlong into the
lost planet Androgena, populated entirely by alien women (looking like
humans, amazingly enough!).
There's one catch: these women hate men. Having won the "Great Gender
Wars" they succeeded in eradicating all male forms from their species.
I mean they >really< hate men. They now rely on the temporary, but
drastic, effects of the Gender Bender Machine to continue their
reproduction. No damsel in distress or planet to save here... our man
Rex is motivated by good old fashioned greed. Rex must overcome
hostile goonies and obstacles of all sorts in order to recover the lost
vase and return a rich man.
:: INTERFACE ::
Like most animated adventures of the day, REX NEBULAR uses the ol'
time-tested (and Sierra-perfected) mouse method of negotiating around
the hero's animated environment. Although a mouse is not required, I
have a hard time picturing this game being much fun without one. The
bottom of the screen has the standard action icons as well as a
scrollbar with all of Rex's worldly possessions in clear view. For those
of you exceeding the minimum hardware requirements, you're treated to an
impressive rotating, digitized image of the inventory item you currently
have selected. Not essential, but definitely adds to the richness of
the screen (the giant leaves were my favorite...). Actions such as
"WALK TO" and "LOOK AT" are assigned to the mouse buttons by default,
allowing Rex to move around without too frequent mouse-trips to the
command icons. Dialogue and detailed descriptions appear in text boxes
over the action.
:: SIGHTS & SOUNDS ::
The graphics in REX NEBULAR are very impressive. The game uses the
standard 256 color VGA mode, but incorporates digitized actors for
characters movements and occasional close-ups. This adds greatly to the
otherwise pleasing artwork (toted to be a hybrid of drawn & digitized
images). The game is obviously a spin off of Sierra's successful
Space Quest series (IV most directly), and the art style shows it. The
introduction and end-game sequences both boast impressive rotoscoped
spaceship animation, reminiscent of the intros to Wing Commander and
Gateway.
I use a SoundBlaster Pro (supported with the game's generic Soundblaster
driver) and was pleased with what I heard. The entire introduction
(some 5-7 minutes of it) uses digitized voice, but the remainder of the
game relies on on-screen text (unfortunately!). While the sound effects
are not as frequent as I'd hoped, the backing music is both thematic
and appropriate. REX NEBULAR doesn't sport the blood-pumping scores of
Wing Commander, for instance, the music is very pleasing as a backdrop
to the puzzle-solving situations Rex encounters.
:: PUZZLES & PLOTS ::
This is where things start to slip.
REX NEBULAR allows the user to play in Easy, Medium, or Hard skill levels.
This directly points to not only the number of puzzles found, but also the
complexity of each. While this is an easy way to scale down difficulty
for those less adventure-hardened players, playing in Easy mode does not
eliminate the objects needed at harder levels. This will probably
confuse many players using Easy mode, finding themselves stuck with
numerous objects with no apparent use. While this is not a major point,
I doubt it would have been too difficult for Microprose to omit such
objects altogether.
Being a somewhat experienced adventure gamer, I was able to play Hard
level through to the end in about eight hours of game play. This may
seem somewhat short (it did to me), but I doubt the "get this object
to get that object" mode of puzzle creation could be stretched much
further. I think Microprose could have benefited from veering from the
object-oriented puzzles (OOPs, sorry for the stale pun...) and developing
the character interactions (few & far between) or other plot devices.
Most of the game takes place in the deserted male-city of Machopolis,
resulting in an only moderately-interesting plotline and few innovative
puzzles. Although there is one very humorous sequence involving an
obnoxious little dog...
:: ODDS & ENDS ::
This game tries, with only half-hearted success to be "adult" (probably
in the spirit of Leather Goddesses of Phobos, since Steve Meretzky
wrote the VERY humorous Rex game manual), but doesn't do much more than
poke fun. The game can be played in various different modes, from tame
to risque, but is not meant to be an adult game by any means.
Conveniently, REX NEBULAR can use up to 100 save slots, and has minimal
copy protection (see above).
REX NEBULAR is an enjoyable game for the recreational gamer, but will
offer little to adventure-hardened users (like myself I suppose :)
I must say, however, that the game's ending is abrupt, and I could go
as far as to call it downright lame. Perhaps Microprose should have
concentrated less on whizbangrotoscopedsuchandsuch and more on
intriguing plot development and puzzles.
REX NEBULAR's overall rating: >> 3 << out of 5
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Adam Pletcher. All rights reserved.
ROBOSPORT FOR WINDOWS by Maxis (Distributed by Broderbund)
Reviewed by Dave Merrill
Having finally finished the last episode of Wolfenstein 3D, I found myself
prowling up and down the game aisle at a local computer store. One of the
top ten sellers on their list was ROBOSPORT FOR WINDOWS, which bills
itself as "The Thinking Man's Shoot-em-up." It is a Microsoft Windows
application, and as such it is one of the few games around to take
advantage of my spiffy 1024x768x256 color display. It allows up to four
players to compete with each other. You can play at the same computer,
over a modem or direct RS-232 link, or over a LAN that uses NetBIOS.
Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to play against another
human, but the game has fairly competent computer players.
Installation was quite painless. The INSTALL.EXE program on the
distribution diskettes is a Windows application that is courteous enough
to allow you to specify the installation directory. This is also the only
time that copy-protection haunts you. During installation, you are asked
to enter a sequence of icons from a specified page in the manual. You are
also asked to enter the serial number of the manual (which is on a sticker
on the inside-front cover of the manual). I assume the serial number
assures that you have paid for each copy of the program in a multi-
computer game. The installation program creates a program group in the
Program Manager called "Maxis", supposedly to contain other Maxis games,
such as SIMCITY and SIMEARTH. In this program group are three icons:
RoboSport, RoboPlayer, and a ReadMe.txt file.
There are several "Sport Types" to choose from, and you can select the
number and types of robots each player controls. The playfield varies in
size depending on the game length you choose. You can choose between
Rubble, Suburbs and Computer terrain, but in each case the playfield is a
square area with each corner designated as a home base for a player.
If you choose the "Survival" sport, the only goal is to make your robots
blow away all of the opposing robots. This is the basic, no-frills
option, and the other sports are all just variations on this theme.
In "Capture The Flag", you place a flag in your home territory and try to
protect it while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate your opponents'
territory and bring their flags to your home. If you manage to capture an
opponent's flag and bring it back to your home territory, that opponent's
robots all instantly die.
"Hostage" is another variation in which your job is to rescue a hostage
from enemy territory. The hostage is taken from your team of robots. You
get a bonus for rescuing your hostage, which is available to you the turn
after it is rescued.
"Treasure Hunt" has you sending your robots out to collect coins that are
scattered randomly throughout the playfield, and "Base Ball" challenges
your robots to be the first team to successfully tag all four bases
scattered out within the playfield. Of course, enemy robots are trying to
recycle your robots the whole time.
Once you are done choosing your options, the game starts. You find
yourself in the Edit Window, which consists of a display of the playfield.
A turn consists of programming each of your robots with a series of simple
commands, such as "move to this location", "scan in your current
direction", "turn", "scan and fire in your current direction", etc. Don't
get your hopes up, though -- there are no loop constructs or conditionals.
This is not what most people refer to as "programming". If you're hoping
to make your robots "smart", forget it. A turn lasts for a specified
amount of time (typically 15 seconds), but you don't necessarily have a
time limit on programming your team.
When all players have finished programming their robots, the game
generates the turn and switches to the Movie Window, where you can watch
helpless as your robots faithfully follow their orders. For some reason,
Maxis chose to compile the turn into a "movie" rather than make
calculations in real-time. This seems to take longer than is absolutely
necessary. I found myself getting impatient with waiting for the turn to
be generated. In any case, if you plan well, your robots will march
gloriously down the street, stopping only to reduce their enemies to mere
scrap metal. If you overlook something... let's just say it can get
ugly.
The graphics and sound are very well done, and the animation is very
smooth. There are comic-book-like "Arrrgghhh"'s and "Ka-BOOM"'s, with
good sounds to go along with them. The movies can be pretty fun to watch,
and you have the option of saving a full-length movie that you can later
play back using the "RoboPlayer".
ROBOSPORT has a lot going for it, but it is plagued by usability flaws. It
can get tedious entering each robot's commands. This problem is
compounded by the fact that some of the commands seem to have no keyboard
equivalents, which leads to endless hunting and clicking.
There is just something about ROBOSPORT that disappoints me. I keep
getting the feeling that this _could_ have been a truly memorable game,
but it seems to miss the mark somehow. I suppose I would say that it
lacks _depth_. Aside from stationing robots in strategic places and using
simple cover formations when moving around, I don't see much in the way of
tactical possibilities. It definitely does _not_ have "the tactical
challenge of chess" that it boasts on the box. Come to think of it, the
box doesn't mention the cumbersome edit/view cycle, either.
ROBOSPORT is a fairly good idea that seems hastily developed and poorly
executed from a gameplay point-of-view, but very slickly marketed. It has
good graphics, great sound, excellent documentation (there is a very
nicely done 90-page manual included with the game), but an annoying user-
-interface and disappointing strategic possibilities. It may be more fun
to play with 2 to 4 one people, but I would not recommend it as a single-
-player game.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Dave Merrill. All rights reserved.
ED. - Enjoy these multiple reviews for this new exciting sequel from
Accolade - STAR CONTROL 2.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAR CONTROL II by Accolade
Reviewed by David White
Reviewed on a 386sx-16Mhz machine (4 Meg RAM) with VGA monitor
Reviewed using keyboard controls and a SoundBlaster Pro
Required: VGA, MCGA
IBM AT or 100% compatible (386 or greater recommended)
580K conventional RAM (no XMS or EMS required)
Hard drive with 9.5 Meg free
Optional: Joystick
Sound board (Adlib, SoundBlaster, Pro Audio Spectrum,
Sound Master II, ASC Media Master, Disney
Sound Source, Covox, MS Windows sound board
Gravis Ultrasound)
--------------------
The year is 2155. Over twenty years have passed since the time of STAR
CONTROL I, and the Alliance of Free Stars has been crushed. The Ur-Quan
and the six other species forming the Hierarchy proved to be too powerful
for the Alliance. Today, the Ur-Quan rule the galaxy and the former
species of the Alliance are either imprisoned on their homeworlds, have
actually joined with the Ur-Quan, or chose self-annihilation rather than
slavery. Earth itself has become enclosed within a slave shield; their
people will never to be allowed to return to the stars again.
Only you, a survivor of a secret mission to a distant star system, can
hope to free Earth from the enslavement of the Ur-Quan. Armed only with
an unfinished starship, the product of an ancient, unknown race of beings,
you must return to Earth and try to rekindle her desire for freedom, and
try to reform a new Alliance to overthrow the Ur-Quan. The task ahead of
you is difficult - twenty years have passed and many who were once your
allies have grown accustomed to slavery. And if you should you fail,
Earth and her allies may face complete annihilation from the wrath of the
Ur-Quan.
--------------------
STAR CONTROL II is best described as a cross between STAR CONTROL I and
STARFLIGHT by Electronic Arts. All the fun of Melee mode (now SuperMelee)
from SCI have been included in SCII, with a few additions (more on that
later). The main part of SCII, however, is its STARFLIGHT-like adventure,
in which you explore a galaxy of hundreds of solar systems, each with
their own unique planets, as you try to devise a way to free Earth and the
former Alliance from its enslavement by the Ur-Quan empire. First, a look
at the arcade part of the game.
SuperMelee
-------------------------
Fans of STAR CONTROL I will be ready to immediately dive into SuperMelee
mode, which is almost identical to Melee mode from STAR CONTROL I, with
the addition of player-defined teams and eleven new ships. In SuperMelee
mode, 2 players can fight each other, or one player can take on the
computer at any of three different skill levels. Each player creates a
team of up to 14 ships. Each ship is given a different "point" value
based on it's power, effectiveness, durability, strength, etc.; a number
beside the team name shows the total number of "points" for that team,
making it easier for both players to create evenly-matched teams.
Each ship in SuperMelee mode (and in the full game) has its own special
characteristics. Important things to consider are how many crew a ship
can hold (when you're out of crew, you're dead), turning rate, speed,
weapon battery recharging rate, weapon strength, etc. Additionally, each
ship has a "special" weapon, such as tractor beams, shields, cloaking
devices, energy-draining drones, etc.
For example, a VUX intruder carries a large number of crew, has a fairly
powerful laser, and a large amount of initial battery power (for the
laser). Its special weapon are pods which slow down the enemy's ship when
it runs into them. However, the VUX moves very slowly, turns slowly, and
its weapons' battery recharges slower than most ships', making it less
effective against fast ships. An Ariloulaleelay Skiff, on the other hand,
moves quite rapidly, can turn on a dime, has an auto-tracking laser, and
recharges its battery more rapidly. Its special weapon is a teleporter
device - very handy for avoiding an incoming missile. However, its
battery is small and drains quickly, and it only carries six crew members
- one good shot from an Ur-Quan or other larger ships can end the battle.
Each ship has its own strengths, weaknesses, and uses (especially within
the larger context of the full game.)
After choosing a team, it's time to begin fighting. Players can choose
the ships they'll begin fighting with, or let the computer randomly choose
one for them. Each player has 5 keys on the keyboard - thrust, turn left,
turn right, fire, use special weapon. Both ships will appear on the
screen in space, and the fighting will begin. A planet is also included,
by which skilled players can speed up their ships using a "Gravity Whip,"
or which players can crash into, losing lots of crew. When one player's
ship is destroyed, that player's team roster is shown to let him choose
another ship. (The winning player must continue using his current ship
until it too is destroyed). When one player's team is completely
destroyed, the game is over and the "point values" of the winning team's
remaining ships is shown.
Full Game
-------------------------
While STAR CONTROL I consisted almost entirely of Melee mode, SuperMelee
mode only makes up a small part of STAR CONTROL II - the real feature is
the full adventure game. As one of the only remaining free humans, cut
off from the War and the rest of the galaxy these last twenty years, you
must discover why the Alliance lost, what has become of your former
allies, and what the meaning is behind the things that are going on in
the galaxy now.
Your main vessel is a starship of unknown design which isn't fully
constructed yet. Shortly into the game, you'll gain access to a starbase
where you'll be able to upgrade your ship's capabilities, provided you
have enough Resource Units (RU) to do it. Your ship's bays also can hold
up to 12 escort vessels, though as the game starts you'll only have one
Earthling Cruiser.
Various upgrade modules available at the starbase include planetary
landers which allow you to explore planets, additional thrusters and
turning jets which increase your flagship's maneuverability, additional
crew pods, cargo bays, fuel tanks, blasters, and dynamo units which
recharge your blasters. Additional technology can be acquired later in the
game.
Much of the game will be taken up with exploring planets. Planets are a
main source of RU (necessary for buying fuel, crew, upgrade modules,
escort vessels, etc.), which you can get by collecting minerals and
lifeforms and taking them back to your starbase or to whoever will buy
them. Occasionally planets will also contain other artifacts like ships,
cities, or other useful devices.
Meeting aliens is another integral part of the game. The starmap included
with the game was the best that was available during your scientific
mission. Unfortunately, it's over twenty years old and many things have
changed since then. It's up to you to find the old and new races and try
to persuade them to help you. Once you encounter aliens, you'll be given
a chance to converse or attack (or save the game). While conversing,
you'll be given a list of statements you can possibly make - the ones you
choose will affect the aliens' response to you. If you're a good orator,
or if you meet a friendly species, chances are you'll make a good
impression and get something out of the deal.
If communication breaks down, however, you'll be thrown into battle mode
which is identical to SuperMelee mode. You'll choose which of your 12
escort vessels you want to use, or you can use your flagship itself. The
battle will proceed until the enemy ship(s) are destroyed or your flagship
is destroyed. If things are going really badly, you can emergency-warp
out of the battle at the cost of 5 units of fuel. If you're victorious,
you'll be able to scavenge useful bits from the debris for extra RU.
Got lousy motor skills and hand-eye coordination? Can't fight worth
beans? No problem; just turn the combat CYBORG mode on and let the
computer fight for you. Of course, don't forget that cyborg mode is only
for the incapacitated or complete wimps - REAL players fight their own
battles! (honest, I completely forgot all about cyborg mode until I was
writing this review; then I went back and tried it. Sure made the battles
a lot easier!)
Summary
-------------------------
As a big fan of both STARFLIGHT games, I was extremely impressed with STAR
CONTROL II. Accolade obviously went to a great deal of trouble to write
a detailed history of the War (it covers 14 pages in the manual!) which
the player would be well advised to read, since it holds the key to under-
standing much of what is going on in 2155. Consequently, the plot of the
game is very well thought out and proceeds very smoothly. As more and
more information about the galaxy, the other races, the Ur-quan, and the
mysterious race that left you a starship is revealed, more and more of
the loose ends in the game are tied up and the object of the game becomes
clearer.
The interface for using the game is also very intuitive. Most controls
can be handled with the cursor keys, space bar, ESC, and ENTER, and the
battle controls are identical to SuperMelee's controls, which are
identical to those of STAR CONTROL I (there's also an option to redefine
the keyboard controls to your liking.)
There were actually very few things to DISLIKE about STAR CONTROL II - I
had to think quite a bit to come up with some to be fair. The main gripe
is its copy-protection scheme - asking for the name of a constellation
from varying coordinates from the starmap every time you begin the game.
Copy protection is a necessary evil, but some schemes are less evil than
others. This one was pretty aggravating, since you had to pull out the
map EVERY time you wanted to play the full game or SuperMelee.
The game also moved rather slowly on my 386sx-16Mhz machine (the manual
recommends at least a 386-20Mhz). Loading a new planet each time I went
into orbit took about 10 seconds, which became an eternity after about 100
planets (remember, planetary exploration is a BIG part of the game). Disk
caching didn't seem to help much either - I guess a faster machine is the
only solution.
The game also tended to allow you access to the weakest ships first, then
more powerful ones later in the game. That's only logical, I suppose, but
it also meant that I had to fight most of my battles with weaker ships and
got much less use out of my more powerful ones later in the game (in fact,
I only access to one of the most powerful ships, the Chmmr Avatar,
IMMEDIATELY before I went to face the final battle. I COULD have gotten it
a little earlier in the game, but not much earlier.)
Overall Impression
-------------------------
STAR CONTROL II is one of the best games, arcade or adventure, that I've
played in a LONG time. Playing the full adventure game was very much
like reading a good science fiction novel - the background to the game
was very well written and I easily became engrossed in the story of the
Alliance, their struggle against the Ur-quan Hierarchy, how the Alliance
was defeated, what happened to its members, and what I would do to change
things. The arcade battle sequences and SuperMelee mode were refreshing
as well - there's nothing like gleefully whipping up on bad-guy aliens
to help relieve the stress of the day!
Accolade wisely left a door wide open for STAR CONTROL III, the sequel to
the game. When it's released, I'll be ready to become part of the story
once again.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by David White. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STAR CONTROL II by Accolade
Reviewed by Bryon Daly
When I saw that Star Control II (SC2) had finally arrived, I picked it up
immediately. I have long been a fan of the original Star Control, and am
glad to be able to say that fans of the orginal game will not be
disappointed by this sequel.
The main game is an explore/gather/trade/fight type game very reminiscent
of StarFlight 2 or, less so, of Elite Plus. The primary difference between
SC2 and these other games (besides vastly better gameplay, graphics, and
sound) is that SC2 is not really concerned with trade routes, bartering,
and marketplaces. Instead, SC2 has a better story line, more humor, and
superior action. Of course, the familiar races and ships from the
original Star Control are still present, but now are fleshed out into
intelligent beings, each with their own motivations. The Ur-Quans are no
longer just evil beings bent on world domination; they now have a hidden
past, which you must uncover, that guides their motivations.
SC2 is definitely not a roleplaying game in the traditional sense, like it
was described in early reports. In other words, you do not develop
character stats and abilities like you would in, say, Ultima 7, which I
consider a traditional roleplayer. The game does place you into the
captain's chair of an impressive precursor ship, and leave it up to you to
free Earth from the Ur-Quan slave masters. The principal things you will
do are fight (of course), gather needed elements from planets, collect
information on planetary lifeforms, and talk to various aliens you
encounter (in a manner very like that of StarFlight 2). You can exchange
the gathered elements at the earth station for "resource units" that you
use to purchase modules to build up your ship. You can trade the lifeform
information to certain aliens in exchange for advanced technology and
information on other races.
A large portion of the early game needs to be spent harvesting elements
and lifeform data from from planets, so that you have "money" (Resource
Units and Credits) to spend for upgrades to your barebones ship, for
technology advances and for information on what's going on elsewhere in
the sector. This can seem to get tedious after a while, but soon enough,
you can obtain technology from the Melnorme aliens that makes things much
easier for you. Also, some people may choose to build up their RU's
through battle, which can be a profitable venture, if you can survive.
There is no shortage of hostile aliens lining up to try and blast you out
of the sky, and if you're tough enough, you can build up a large sum of
RU's fairly quickly this way.
Later in the game as you find out more about what is going on, resource
gathering becomes secondary to accomplishing certain tasks, and finding
certain items. The puzzles given are not too hard in general and often
clues related to the puzzle are given out by the various aliens you speak
to. One of the features that this game could really have used is some
sort of auto-notetaking to record all the clues that the aliens give you.
As it is, you must write them down yourself, and sometimes they go by too
fast to record (although usually you can replay the alien's last message).
There are only a few puzzles where you aren't directly told what to do,
and they are fairly easy to solve anyway. Put it this way: I finished the
game myself with no outside help, and I'm notoriously wimpy in my usual
reliance on hint books and tips from other players. This is not to say
that it was easy (indeed: it took me two or three days and nights of
frenzied gameplaying to finish); it's just that it isn't terribly hard.
I'm glad to say that the game has a reasonably satisfying ending, unlike
some other games on the market today. It definitely promotes the
possibility of a Star Control III, which I would look forward to playing.
The ending credits are also fun to watch, so don't just quit the game when
the end sequence finishes.
SC2 also offers a separate melee game, the Super Melee, for raw combat
practice. The Super Melee allows one or two players to construct unique
fleets of up to 14 ships each from the list of all available ships,
including the 9 or so cool new ships. All the old ships from Star Control
are still present, basically unchanged. A nice feature of the Super Melee
is the ability to choose which ships are in your fleet (Think one ship
type is a dud? - just leave it out of your fleet!) and also to save the
fleets you have created to disk, for reuse in later games.
After having completed the main game, I felt very satisfied with it, but
at the same time, I'm left wishing there had been some sort of strategic
game option in addition to the Super Melee. This is because there is
little use in replaying the main adventure, since I know all the answers,
and while the Super Melee is fun, it lacks depth. A strategic game
similar to the full game in the original Star Control would have provided
much more replay value than an adventure does, but in general that is true
of all adventure games. I guess I can't expect them to do everything
though. Anyway, even without a strategic game option, I feel that SC2 is
lots of fun and is worth buying.
SC2's music is great, definitely the best I've heard on my Sound Blaster,
and so are its sound effects. A manual addendum says that the game
swelled from 6 to 9 MB is size largely because of the addition of nearly
an hour of digital music and sound effects. I would say it's definitely
worth the extra space! Certain aliens talk during combat, which is a nice
(and sometimes humorous) touch. The music itself is widely varied, from
the somber Utwig theme to the rockin' Earth Station tunes, to the bizarre
Orz theme to the funky Pkunk music to the... well, you get the picture.
The music never seems to get annoying or repititious, and I sometimes
found myself not wanting to end a conversation with some alien because I
was enjoying the music too much! If you're a Star Trek fan, check out the
new sound the Ur-Quan makes when it shoots its fusion blast, which sounds
suspiciously close to a photon torpedo launch.
The graphics are in MCGA (so much for the SVGA rumor....), but are very
well done. Especially impressive are the planetary views from orbit.
SC2 requires 580K free memory, VGA, and a hard disk. Accolade recommends
a 20 Mhz 386 system minimum for playing the game. I have found that the
game adjusts its speed well, according to your computer speed, so it's not
too fast on a fast computer. A joystick is optional, but my friends and I
have found using the keyboard is actually preferrable to using a joystick,
so a joystick is definitely not necessary. I would heartily recommend
having a sound card, though, to enjoy all that great music and sound
effects. The game supports a large variety or sound cards, including the
Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, AdLib, Disney Sound Source, Gravis
UltraSound, ProAudio Spectrum, Microsoft Windows sound board, and
Thunderboard. Notably absent from the supported list are the Roland
series of sound cards.
The manual mentions that some extended memory managers may cause slowdowns
or even crashes and to boot without them if problems occur, but I had no
problems using QEMM on my system. I was unable to get SC2 to work in a
DOS VDM under OS/2 v2.0, though. It crashed the VDM (but not OS/2 itself)
every time I tried to run it.
The copy protection in SC2 takes the form of a map lookup of a star's
name, given its coordinates and size/color. The protection lacks the
humor that the original Star Control's copy protection had. Also, a code
wheel, like the original game had, would have been more convenient to use
than the large (approx. 15" x 18") map is.
The manual is well-written, but tells little about what your goals are or
how to achieve them. While some players like the fact that they are left
on their own at the beginning like this, it leaves other players feeling a
bit lost and undirected. Once you start exploring and conversing with the
other races, though, it's pretty easy to get into the swing of things.
SC2 is relatively bug-free, a rarity for a game of this size and
complexity, but I have noticed a few minor bugs, such as the fact that I
can't get keypad 5 key to work as thrust on the Keypad #2 custom layout.
Another person told me he had problems using the keypad 5 for the fire
key. (Yes, I'm sure it's not a keyboard conflict.) Another minor bug I
noticed is in the Super Melee game, there is some wierdness if you choose
the save option and just hit enter at the prompt for a file name. It is
nothing major, though. Anyway, the bugs I have found are minor and few,
so they are not a major consideration.
One thing to note is that, at its core, SC2 is an action game, and so
requires some arcade skill and dexterity. If you are not a fan of action-
type games, the battles may leave you flat. There is a "cyborg" option
for the game, in which the computer fights for you during a battle, while
you watch, so you don't need any skill or dexterity to play then. In my
opinion, though, the battles are half the fun, and you would be missing
out on a lot by using this option.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that there are a few risque parts in the
game, centered around the Syreens (who else...), and while it is all in
fun and there is nothing explicit or terribly offensive about it, there
are some people who will object to it, especially if their children will
be playing it.
Overall, I think Star Control II is an excellent game, and that I have
definitely gotten my money's worth out of it. The graphics and especially
the sound are excellent and the game is fun to play. The separate Super
Melee game provides for lasting fun after the adventure is complete, and,
as another Star Control fan remarked, "The Super Melee would be worth
buying even without the adventure part." This is even more true if you
have a friend to play against, because the Super Melee offers one of the
few good head-to-head action games available on a PC. I definitely
recommend Star Control II to anyone who enjoys action-adventure games.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Bryon Daly. All rights reserved.
ED. - Enjoy these two reviews of Spellcasting 301!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPELLCASTING 301: SPRING BREAK by Legend Entertainment Co.
Reviewed by Carl Muckenhoupt
This is the third installment in Steve Meretzky's "Spellcasting" series.
Like the first two, it chronicles the humorous and bawdy adventures of
Ernie Eaglebeak, now a junior at Sorceror U. Other than that, it has very
little to do with the rest of the series, plotwise, so new players
shouldn't be scared of jumping in at this point.
The plot is not exactly your standard fare for fantasy games. Basically,
Ernie and his brethren from the Hu Delta Phart fraternity get to spend a
week at the vacation resort of Fort Naughtytail. The moment they get
there, they have a run-in with students from the rival fraternity, Getta
Loda Yu. To determine who deserves the title of "Kings of the Beach," the
Yu's and the Pharts have a contest, with events such as body surfing, sand
castle building, and tanning. The problem is, the Yu's are all tall,
muscular jocks, and the Pharts are all scrawny, underdeveloped geeks.
But, as one character points out, even if the Yu's are stronger and more
coordinated, the Pharts are better at magic. For each event, you must
figure out how your spellcasting abilities can give you the edge.
There are thirteen events, ten scheduled for various times throughout the
week and three (including the first) unscheduled "ad hoc" events. At the
end of each, your score goes up depending on how well you did. Likewise,
the Yu's score goes up depending on how well _they_ did. It is possible to
beat the Yu's at each event, but it's not necessary as long as you win
enough events to keep the lead. Of course, experienced adventurers will
want to win all the events to get the maximum score, so the game is polite
enough to tell you when this happens.
This business of scheduling the tasks may remind some players of
Spellcasting 201, where you couldn't even begin to prepare for the tasks
until they were announced, and a single failed task led to the game's
immediate end. However, these flaws are absent here. S301 lies somewhere
between the too-strict system of S201 and the very open design of S101,
thereby giving the player both freedom and motivation. There was plenty
of time to explore and experiment between events, especially early in the
game. I would have liked a bit more logic behind some of the causality
(why should a washed-away sand castle reveal a ratchet?), but you can't
have everything.
The magic system, too, is nicely flexible. True, there are some extremely
special-purpose spells (like "Enlarge Tree Root"), but these are made up
for by two extremely versatile spells. One is the UPPSSY spell, which
changes things into their opposites. UPPSSY frequently has unexpected,
humorous, and occasionally fatal effects. For example, cast it on an
underground spring, and it turns into winter, freezing you to death. Cast
it on a lantern, and, through a bizarre association of ideas, it turns
into Mrs. O'Leary's cow. The other spell is RATANT, which mutates spells
into similarly-spelled spells with similarly-spelled effects. For
example, it turns FRIMP (levitation) into FRUMP (legislation), a
completely useless spell that summons a messenger with a royal decree
proclaiming a new holiday or zoning ordinance or somesuch. Trying these
spells out on different subjects is half the fun of the game.
Unlike most of Legend's games, the geography of S301 is not divided into
compartments. Almost all of the game is played on one continuous stretch
of land, including the beach, the shops and hotels, two adjoining towns,
and a small region of wilderness. Because of this, the automap feature
does not provide a graphical overhead view, but rather a traditional
boxes-and-lines adventure map of the sort seen in "Beyond Zork." Some
players will be disappointed, but I prefer it this way, as it gives a much
clearer picture of how things are actually connected.
By now, you're probably wondering why I haven't mentioned the sex scenes.
The answer is that they aren't very important to the game! True, sex was a
big part of the first two games. True, the box cover was designed for sex
appeal. But there's more puzzle-solving than sex in S301, and playing it
in "naughty" mode isn't very different from playing it in "nice" mode.
Also, in previous Spellcasting games - and, indeed in Meretzky's other
ribald classic, _Leather Goddesses of Phobos_ - I found that there was a
lot of humor in "nice" mode, in the unlikely events that the game used to
avoid anything even the slightest bit dirty. This, too, is absent in
S301. Could it be that Meretzky is tired of putting in sex for its own
sake? More likely, he's tired of writing two versions of the text for the
game. Yes, there is sex in S301, and the chapters are punctuated by
digitized photos of women in swimsuits, but if you're buying it as
pornography, there are better (and cheaper) sources.
Incedentally, is it just me, or is there something a little strange about
calling something "nice mode" when it involves rampant property
destruction? Just thought I'd ask...
The user interface is identical to that seen in previous Legend games, so
I won't go into great detail describing it. For those of you unfamiliar
with the system, Legend is pretty much the only company still producing
adventure games with a type-in parser. Optionally, a series of scrolling
menus can be used to make command entry more difficult and time-consuming.
VGA pictures are provided, but not essential to gameplay; purists can play
the game in all-text mode and pretend it's still the Infocom era.
The minumum hardware requirements for S301 are 640K of memory, EGA, and 6.
5 MB of hard disk space (a size that by now looks modest!) AdLib,
SoundBlaster, and Roland sound cards are supported. If you have a sound
card, music plays throughout the game and varies with your location. In
most areas, you get bouncy, 50's-esque rock to go with the beach. Nowhere
is the music distracting, as in previous Legend games. Digitized sound
effects can be played through a sound card with a DAC (like the
SoundBlaster) or over the PC internal speaker. These are mainly humorous
in effect, like the "Ooooh! Aaaah!" chorused by the admiring crowd at many
of the events.
In summary, then, I liked this game. The design was good, the magic
system was good, the plot was original, the game logic was for the most
part unobjectionable, and the sex was...unobtrusive. Another good thinking
game from Legend, with more puzzles and better puzzles than any of the
graphics-intensive games out there.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Carl Muckenhoupt. All rights
reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPELLCASTING 301: SPRING BREAK by Legend Entertainment Inc.
Reviewed by Bill Foust
SPELLCASTING 301 (S301) follows Ernie Eaglebeak through yet another
wonderful adventure in his life. This time it's spring break, and Ernie
along with all of his Hu Delta Phart fraternity brothers fly to Fort
Naughtytail, the hottest spring break spots around. Unfortunately the
Getta Loda Yu fraternity from St. Weinersburg Academy of Magic is already
there, and they don't want to share the beach! A shouting match starts
and as it's about to come to a head, The Judge interrupts and declares a
week-long series of events to determine who has control of the beach.
And so the week-long contest begins. You must out-wit and out-magic the
Yu's in The Judge's competitions to win control of the beach for the rest
of your spring break, or leave in disgrace.
As an experienced gamer, I found a lot of things that I was pleased with,
but on the same token found a few that I was not. Even though the screen
shots are in VGA, S301 has some excellent Super VGA graphics, and every
place has its own picture - a few even have animation. The component
that impressed me the most though, was the sound. I'm one of those poor
schmucks that don't yet have a sound card of some kind or another, but
with S301, it didn't matter. It had some of the best sounds for the PC
speaker that I have ever heard. It makes me wonder why other game
manufacturers don't implement such great sound for the old PC speaker.
It is relevant to note that my PC has a _real_ speaker in it, not a wafer
speaker. Although I have not heard the sounds on a wafer speaker, I'm
sure they are barely distinguishable at best.
The only bad aspect of the game was the old Legend interface. The
interface is generally good, you can either type in your command, or build
it from lists of actions and objects. In fact this helps a lot when trying
to cast spells like OKEYDOKEYO and HUFFINPUFFA. It was irritating however
to be restricted to _only_ building commands by a mouse, or typing them
in - there was not a way to type a bit, select a difficult word, and then
finish typing in the command.
The actual events and 'puzzles' in the game were very good. I would rate
the difficulty level at intermediate or difficult. I was very grateful for
all the help I got from the net, because some of the events I couldn't
have solved by myself. Some of the events are very straight-forward in
their solution, you just have think about it, others use play-on-words and
double meanings, and others simply require that you have been someplace or
have an object.
As usual, there are a lot of babes that help - Lola Tigerbelly and Hillary
Tickingclock from S101 and S201 both make an appearance, though if you
get this game expecting a porno, take it back. Even on the naughty
level, the sex portions of the game are tasteful - not even the pictures
are very revealing. If I had to give the game a rating, I would have to
say it's PG on the nice level, and PG-13 on the naughty level.
One of the things that I liked most about the design of the game was that
there are many different ways to solve the game and sometimes each event.
It's possible to only complete three or four of the events, and still win
the contest with the last event. There are even different point levels
for each level of 'best' completing the event. This also holds true for
some tasks as well. For example, it just wouldn't be a spring break
without a night in jail, and Ernie ends up there more than a couple
times. Each time, you must figure a way out of jail or spend the night.
Sometimes, you can't afford to waste that much time and still complete
preparations for the next event in time.
If you liked the first two SPELLCASTINGS, you're sure to like S301 as
well. If you are looking for a good 'adventure' game reminiscent of the
old Infocom ZORK series, S301 should get careful consideration. If you
are looking for a good game for the kids, S301 might not be a good choice
unless they are in the middle teens.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Bill Faust. All rights reserved.
Ed. The following is an extremely well-written account of an experience
Flight Simulator pilot who has plenty of experience with FS4.0B and all
the any scenery add-on disks available. Mr. Ollinger is pleased to be
able to present them all to you in Game Bytes, and we're proud to publish
them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
EUROPEAN TOUR -- Scenery Disk by SubLOGIC
Reviewed by J. A. Ollinger
I am not going to answer for anyone else on this, but for me, it helps
tremendously to have actually seen (in real life) a lot the scenery I fly
over using Microsoft Flight Simulator (FS). While certain scenery areas
offer unique challenges or features, most FS scenery leaves something to
be desired. I have never been to Chicago, so FS Chicago scenery just
looks like a handful of tall polygons. But I have spent time in Hawaii,
so I can look at the FS interpretation of Waikiki Beach and use my memory
to enhance the scene.
All that said, I have not been overly impressed with EUROPEAN TOUR, one
SubLOGIC's more recent scenery disks for FS and FLIGHT ASSIGNMENT: ATP.
Their GREAT BRITAIN disk blew me away. EUROPEAN TOUR just kind of sits
there.
EUROPEAN TOUR covers three areas: southern England, northern France, and
southern West Germany. The area includes London, Dover, the English
Channel, Caen, Calais, Paris, Reims, Brussels, Strasbourg, Stuttgart,
Frankfurt, and Munich. There is also some Moscow scenery off the map.
SubLOGIC gives written directions in their documentation to get you there.
For those of us who like to play fantasy games with FS, this is some
pretty important territory. There is the channel crossing for those who
want to relive the Bleriot flight. Reims was the sight of the first air
show. The whole area is steeped in World War I and II aeronautical
history. Maniacs (and I have been considering this) might make up the
"Spirit of Saint Louis" using Mallard's AIRCRAFT FACTORY and then attempt
to cross the Atlantic, starting with Scenery Disk #12 and ending with
EUROPEAN TOUR. About the only thing that can't be done is the Berlin
airlift (though enterprising users might create Berlin with the scenery
designer).
EUROPEAN TOUR offers a lot of places to go and ways to get there. I count
55 airports and over 130 navaids. There are even two ATIS sites.
Special scenery includes Stonehenge, Buckingham Palace, the Eiffel Tower,
Red Square, Frankfurt Cathedral, and others.
All this and I am still luke-warm about it all. First, the Great Britain
scenery is all done far better on the GREAT BRITAIN disk. And in all
ways, the EUROPEAN TOUR package pales in comparison with GREAT BRITAIN.
The special scenery is less dense, there are fewer airports, the maps are
smaller and in black & white instead of color. The maps are better than
those that come in the Mallard scenery packages, but it is tough to look
at the GREAT BRITAIN maps and then settle for less.
The cities are colored yellow on the ground. Bright yellow. That makes
them real easy to spot using the in-flight map, but from an aesthetic
viewpoint, they are ugly as sin. I was flying through Paris and looking
at the Eiffel tower, which is green, against that yellow background and I
had to switch to dusk before I got sick. EUROPEAN TOUR is a good excuse
to night fly.
Much of my apathy also comes from what I mentioned at the beginning of
this review--a lot of scenery looks like garbage if you have not seen the
real thing. I have not been to Europe, and aside from pictures, I can't
look at SubLOGIC's version of the Louvre and imagine something better. I
keep seeing this ugly little box on yellow ground.
I do not want to discourage anyone from getting this package. It offers
what all scenery disks are meant to have: new airports and navaids. But
as a scenery disk it is not exceptional. There is nothing in it (even the
Moscow run) that really captured my imagination and made me want to load
it over and over. I buy every scenery disk that shows up in the local
software store, but I still spend most of my time flying over my home--
Northern California, or using the disks that I got caught up in-- GREAT
BRITAIN, Mallard's GRAND CANYON, and to a lesser extent both HAWAII disks.
EUROPEAN TOUR is up to scenery disk standards, but it does not offer much
more.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
GREAT BRITAIN -- Scenery Collection by SubLOGIC
Reviewed by J. Ollinger
So there I was, 300 feet AGL over the Thames in my Beech Starship, minding
my own business, when I felt the control stick start to kick in my hand.
I looked out my window and I saw a man hanging onto the back of my
fuselage with his feet tapping the elevator. It looked like one of those
British secret agent show-offs again.
I turned to my partner, a beautiful, buxom brunette I picked up in
Manchester with liquid green eyes and pearl colored skin. I looked at her
and in my best no nonsense voice, I laid it on the line.
"Go out there and get him."
She refused. And it was hard to fly the plane and push her out the window
at the same time. So I came up with Plan B, where upon I would do a high-
G turn, followed by a power stall. I would flip on my back and come
crashing down into the Thames and burst into flames. It was my best
maneuver.
That would fix him. It came off without a hitch. I *knew* there was a
reason I had been ending all my flights with those spectacular wipeouts.
The above scenerio aside, I believe that much of the fun of FS comes in
flying over familiar territory. I often fly a Sacramento to San Francisco
shuttle because that is right in my back yard. The scenery is fairly
sparse but I can picture the landscape in my mind as I fly over it.
But Britain may as well be Mars as far as I am concerned. I have never
been there and may never be able to go. So flying over it was never high
on my list. And it took a long time for me to give SubLOGIC's GREAT
BRITAIN scenery a try. I originally bought it because I try and buy
everything for FS that comes down the pike, warts and all.
Now I am glad I bought it, but waiting may have been a good thing since it
would have spoiled me for other locales. GREAT BRITAIN may very well
become a standard to judge new scenery disks against.
First off, it is big. Very big. It takes three 3 1/2-inch low density
disks (or six 5 1/4-inch low density disks) to contain it all. Part of
this is due to the fact that the scenery is for two different programs:
both Microsoft Flight Simulator format and SubLOGIC's Flight Assignment:
ATP format; but a lot of it is due to the fact that there is simply a lot
of scenery.
The first disk covers England. From Heathrow Airport one can fly east
along the Thames and see (among other things) Buckingham Palace and
Westminster Abbey. The second disk covers central Britain and Wales. The
third disk covers Scotland and Ireland. There are a lot of things to
see, including castles, forts, bridges ships, churches, villages,
Stonehenge, and even the Loch Ness Monster.
Into all this SubLOGIC added over 160 airports and many (I am not going to
attempt to count them) VOR and NDB aids. There are a lot of places to go
and ways to get there.
Probably the nicest surprise is the map. There are three maps (one for
each disk) in color, and large enough (18 x 24 inches) to actually be able
to read without eyestrain. One inch equals approximately 14 nautical
miles.
On the back is a list of the airports, ILS frequencies, coordinates (both
in degrees and in FS North/East numbers), area location, and elevation.
SubLOGIC also includes (on the map) indicated areas of special interest.
On the back is the listing, including coordinates. So if you want to buzz
Canterbury Cathedral, you just plug in the numbers and you are there. If
you want to see Nessie, you do not have to look for Loch Ness in an atlas.
Just punch in the coordinates.
Besides the special scenery, SubLOGIC has thrown in a lot of other things
that are not listed on the map, like ships and offshore oil platforms.
About the only thing that is missing is ATIS. It may be that there is no
air traffic control because British airports do not use the same
frequencies. But I miss it nonetheless. If I want to know what the
weather conditions are, I have to use the FS clouds menu and look at the
settings.
All in all, GREAT BRITAIN has been a pleasant surprise. It lacks the
daring canyon flight that Mallard's GRAND CANYON offers, and it lacks the
familiar CT information that US scenery offers. But for pure flight
enjoyement and a little scenery gawking, GREAT BRITAIN is tough to beat.
Damn. Someone else just jumped onto the wing. "Lavender, my dear, go out
there and get him!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRAND CANYON: Scenery Upgrade Series by Mallard
Reviewed by J. Ollinger
I was sitting in the Beechcraft Starship just off the edge of Runway 33 at
Page Municipal airport. I got cleared for takeoff and I headed up and
over Lake Powell, turned 180 degrees around, then dropped under-neath
Glen Canyon Bridge and into the Grand Canyon. The great and glorious,
world famous Grand Canyon. A few minutes later, the burning wreckage of
my Starship had to be hosed off a sheer wall below the Little Colorado
River Gorge.
I have augured in at what seems to be every nook and cranny of the
greatest river bed in the world, except for the times I've actually fallen
through the fragile canyon floor. I have smashed up so often I have taken
humming the song "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvis. For those who do not
recognize the song, each verse ends with a screech and a crash.
Grand Canyon National Park is certainly one of the most beautiful places
on earth. It is a scene of infinite variations of color and form and
texture. And for this reason, I was stunned when I saw that Mallard had
tried to render it as scenery, using Microsoft Flight Simulator's (FS)
famous polygon-filled graphics.
The result is something that looks far more like a 3-D line chart than the
Grand Canyon. At its best resolution, FS can only handle 16 colors, and
Mallard's Grand Canyon scenery usually appears to use 4 or 5 colors at the
most. The canyon walls are very jagged and razor straight. The Colorado
River looks like a dark blue rectangle. Due to the lack of color
variation, it can be very difficult to judge the true shape of the
polygons because depth perception is almost non-existent. One has to fly
around quite a bit and learn to read whatever visual ques that can be
picked up. That alone can be frustrating.
For what it is worth, the Mallard documentation admits the fact that this
is not a picture perfect representation of the canyon. They suggest
thinking of the canyon the way the indians did, which is a way of looking
at the entire earth as a living thing and not just a big, incredibly
detailed hole in the ground.
I like to look at it as a bobsled run. Mallard suggests
getting the plane
down into the canyons and trying to follow the tight turns and straights
of the various canyons and gorges. They even rated many of these places
for their navigable difficulty. Some of the areas are fairly easy and
some are very tough. Flying with the Cessna or Cherokee is fairly simple,
but take the Learjet down there and a pilot is in for Mister Toad's Wild
Ride.
It is at this level that I enjoy Grand Canyon the most. Usually I follow
the Colorado River from either end and see how far I can follow it before
I crack up. The scenery follows the river from the Northeast entrance at
Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell), to the exit at Toroweap Valley, a straight
line distance of a little over 100 miles. But the river snakes around a
lot of nasty turns and through some tight corners, and following it can be
hazardous to one's health.
There are six places to land. Page Municipal, Marble Canyon just below
it, Tuba City, which is down at the southeastern end of the area, Grand
Canyon Airport, the only airport with an ATIS, Tuweep Airstrip and Cliff
Dweller's Lodge. The last two spots are dirt strips with no facilities
whatsoever.
One of the things I like about Mallard scenery is that it comes with some
pre-programmed modes to try out. Thus one can load the scenery for the
first time and then pick a mode and be sitting on a runway, ready to go.
It makes for a nice way to introduce people to the area.
One of the things I don't like about Mallard's scenery series, and this
goes for the other two--Hawaii and Tahiti--as well, is that Mallard names
the scenery "MS-3" on the scenery menu. Since I have to manually choose
which scenery to load from the FS menu, I find this irksome. They could
have named it MS3-GRAND CANYON. I either have to remember that MS-3 is
the Grand Canyon, or I have to load the mode I want first (which says "MS-
3" as part of the title) and then go load the scenery afterward. As I
said, a simple name change would have been nice.
One of the most interesting things about the Grand Canyon scenery is that
it departs from normal FS scenery in a strange way. FS considers the
world to be flat, but runways have specific altitudes and FS makes
altimeter adjustments as one travels between airports. I have not
experimented much with this, and I was surprised to learn it. But it
means that one can fly straight and level and maintain a constant altitude
over land that, in real life, would be rising and falling with the
topography.
The Grand Canyon, however, is several thousand feet above sea level, even
the river bed, and the Mallard scenery follows natural topography. To get
from Page Municipal (4310 MSL) to Grand Canyon (6606 MSL), one has gain
2300 feet of altitude, not just to satisfy the altimeter when landing, but
to keep from running into the ground.
The upshot of all this is that the Grand Canyon scenery floats thousands
of feet above ground level like a cloud city. If one flies off the
scenery map and looks backward, one would see the Grand Canyon scenery
floating above the earth's surface. It is also possible to fly below the
scenery area and look UP at it. A very weird feeling indeed.
The same thing can be done by slipping below the scenery's lowest surface.
I have done this several times, usually because I had the crash detect
turned OFF and I lost too much altitude in a stall. I did it another time
with the crash detect ON but FS still did not detect the crash. Mallard
documents the fact that they only set limited areas for crash detection in
order to speed up the program.
Mallard's documentation is much improved over their earlier offerings (the
Sound, Graphics and Aircraft Upgrade, and Flight Planner), now using high
contrast, quality paper and a readable print size. The map and booklet
are clean and lucid and interesting. Mallard offers a lot of flight
suggestions to enhance playability. They have suggested turning off the
instrument panel and expanding the main window to full screen size, and
changing the zoom from 1.0 to full wide angle. This is a wonderful
effect, and it reminds me of those wide-screen movies I've seen where a
plane flies through the canyon and walls distort as the plane flies by.
It also makes it much easier to fly the bobsled run. Mallard also makes
some interesting comments on various planes and performances, suggesting
that it can be a good place to fly the P-51D (from their Sound, Graphics
and Aircraft Upgrade) and the Sopwith (FS standard aircraft). Daredevils
are invited to try the Lear. I have not been crazy enough to fly the Lear
down through it yet. And I certainly have not yet tried the 747 or
Concorde. But soon, perhaps, things will change.
After the initial disappointment with the scenery, I have found myself
growing fond of this scenery disk. And not just for the bobsled run
(though that is a big part of it), it is possible that I have started to
tap into the Navajo pilot idea that the world is a great, polygon-filled
desolation, full of natural power and wonder. It takes a certain amount
of imagination and suspension of disbelief to look at a big rectangle,
check the map, and say, 'oh, so that's the Statue of Liberty.' The Grand
Canyon disk requires the same kind of imagination. It requires the
ability to look at that big blue polygon and think that it's the Colorado
River.
Time to climb back into the Beechcraft and see how far I can go this time.
"Lyric from "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvis. Copyright unknown."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAWAII -- Scenery Upgrade by Mallard HAWAIIAN ODYSSEY --
Scenery Adventure by SubLOGIC
Reviewed by J. Ollinger
I was sitting on the lanai outside my hotel room, about eleven stories up
and a half mile (three rows of hotels) back from Waikiki Beach. It was
about a hundred degrees, pure humidity, and every pigeon in Oahu was
sitting there, looking at my lunch and wondering whether I would taste
good with a squeeze of lemon. Regardless of the pigeons, Hawaii is
America's garden spot--a place where people from all over the world flock
to vacation. And it is the subject of two scenery disks from competing
companies--SubLOGIC and Mallard.
Rather than write separate reviews for each disk, I thought it would be
better to write a direct comparison of the two.
GETTING THERE IS HALF THE FUN
SubLOGIC's installation routine leaves something to be desired. Anyone
who owns other SubLOGIC scenery should be familiar with the infamous
CONVERTS program. You run the converts program and it prompts you for the
name of the scenery disk. Except that the Hawaii scenery is not one of
the menu choices, so you have to choose the OTHER option. You then have
to name the output file yourself and specify a "last block to be
converted." The correct answer is 242, which is buried on page 5 of the
documentation.
Mallard's is more straightforward. You run the MS1 program and that is
it. No weird questions.
SubLOGIC does have the edge in one place. When you invoke the scenery
selection menu in Flight Simulator, you get a list available scenery
areas. SubLOGIC's scenery name is whatever you named it while running the
CONVERTS program--usually "SD-HAW." At least that is fairly easy to
decipher. Mallard uses the name "MS-1" as the scenery name. "MS-1" is
as descriptive as "YOU GUESS" to those of us with poor memories.
Mallard's TAHITI collection is "MS-2" and its GRAND CANYON collection is
"MS-3." This is an irritating method of nomenclature.
Mallard makes up for it by adding several pre-made modes. Though you can
still set your airplane anywhere you want using the SET POSITION menu, it
is nice to be able to use the modes to get into the scenery right away.
It is a nice bonus that SubLOGIC does not offer.
SIGHTSEEING
Scenery disks, no matter how generous one is, are not exactly covered with
detail. The famous hotel strip on Waikiki beach has dozens of hotels and
tons of detail. Each hotels has individual character. On the scenery
disks all the hotels are reduced to a handful of white polygons.
SubLOGIC does offer a decent amount of scenery. The airstrips (well, some
of them) have taxiways, lights, buildings, and markings. Diamond Head is
easily recognizable just beyond Waikiki's hotel row. And there's the
Pearl Harbor memorial.
Mallard's scenery, especially when compared with SubLOGIC's, is more
detailed. The airports have more buildings, more lights and other little
extras. The Pearl Harbor memorial flies an American flag on it. There's
a beach and white lines for surf. There are more hotels (not necessarily
better, just more) on Waikiki. There is more, period.
The trade off here comes in animation speed. On my 386/25, the SubLOGIC
scenery is smooth but the Mallard scenery is a little choppy. This is
obviously due to the scenery density. Users with slow machines might find
SubLOGIC's speed an advantage.
WHERE TO GO
Both packages cover the Hawaiian islands (Hawaii, Kahoolawe, Lanai,
Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Nihau), but both packages add something more.
Mallard also maps the Leeward Islands, which are another dozen little
islands running over 1,000 miles west of Kauai. This chain includes
Midway Island.
SubLOGIC offers are more radical departure. Hidden in the program is
collection of "experimental" scenery. By flying down into the volcano on
the big island, you get teleported to another position with very different
scenery. It can be a giant Grand Piano, or Pyramids, or a simply just a
barkentine ship off the coast of Kauai. Some of the experimental scenery
is better than others. Mostly it's a provocative way of looking at the
possibilities for FS scenery.
WHAT TO DO
SubLOGIC also adds an "adventure"--looking for the sacred jewel of the
goddess Pele. Basically it amounts to starting the adventure by running
over a marking at an airport, and then following the big, flashing white
arrows on the ground. It is not a difficult adventure by any stretch of
the imagination.
HOW TO GET THERE
Both Hawaii collections offer a number of navigational aids and airports.
Mallard has 24 airports, 9 automatic terminal information service (ATIS)
sites, 5 ILS approaches, 12 VOR sites, and 8 non-directional beacons.
SubLOGIC offers 26 airports, 6 ATIS sites, 5 ILS approaches, 12 VORs, and
3 NDBs. SubLOGIC has more airports (26 airports on the Hawaiian islands,
vs. Mallard's 24 airports on the Hawaiian and Leeward islands). Other
than that, they are about even.
SubLOGIC's map is better. It is a little larger and it looks like the
standard FS maps (gray oceans and white land). The islands are a little
larger and the whole thing is a little easier to read. It also has a nice
airport directory that lists coordinates and frequencies for all the
airports.
Mallard's map is little smaller and more cramped. The obverse has the
Hawaiian chain and the reverse has the Leewards. It has all the necessary
information, but it lacks the airport directory and the clarity of detail
that SubLOGIC's map has.
Documentation for both disks is adequate. Both are small booklets.
SubLOGIC's has three holes punched in it, which means it can go into a
small 3-ring binder (like the one SubLOGIC put out a few years ago).
Mallard's is not punched. The SubLOGIC book offers coordinates for all
the special scenery they include--so you can teleport yourself easily to
see Vertical World rather than fly into the volcano transporter.
Mallard's documentation offers a little more information about the islands
themselves, including some ideas on what to see. It also offers are more
detailed airport index in the back.
CHECKOUT TIME
It would be hard to recommend one disk over the other because both are
quite good at what they do. Users who want the extra ground detail would
be happier with Mallard's disk. Users who want the added animation speed
and do not care as much about scenery detail would probably be happier
with SubLOGIC's disk. I definitely advise against buying the SubLOGIC
disk solely for the adventure or the "special" scenery.
The Hawaiian Odyssey, however, is now packed with two other disks
(SubLOGIC's scenery disk #s 9 and 12). The three disks make a fine
package and should not be overlooked.
Personally, I buy everything that comes down the pike. I now have both
Hawaii scenery disks and to be honest, I play with them both and I am not
disappointed. I can fly all over those islands, and I do not have to put
up with the heat and humidity.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAHITI: Scenery Upgrade Series by Mallard
Reviewed by J. Ollinger
I do not buy many computer games (no, I do not pirate them), but I do
purchase every FS scenery disk that comes down the pike. I have long
since realized the severe limitations set by the FS graphics world. There
is only so much that can be done with polygon-filled graphics and 16
colors. Even in VGA.
But I think I have been somewhat let down by the Tahiti scenery. It is a
great idea to make scenery of exotic places, and I want to encourage
Mallard (and Microscene, the actual designers) to make as many scenery
disks as they can. Like many people, I have a laundry list of locations
I would love to see on FS.
I have always wanted to visit Tahiti but have never been able to get
there. I wanted to go ever since I found out the fast staccato music and
dancing that I enjoy was, in fact, Tahitian.
So I set up FS to start out on Rangiroa, using one of the modes that comes
with the scenery, hopped in the Cessna and took off. The island is this
big, amorphous green lump with a few brown triangles that are supposed to
be gorges. The ocean is dark blue with zig-zag gray lines that represent
coral. The beaches are light green. And there is the usual mix of
strange polygons that pass for buildings.
The scenery density, even if it looks sparse, can make the animation
choppy. I have a 386/25 and I have this problem with all of Mallard's
scenery disks (it is especially bad on Grand Canyon, where it messes up my
timing as I try to negotiate tight corners). Running a disk cache program
like SMARTDISK helps smooth things out.
The documentation suggests "keep your eyes open and your altitude low and
you will discover ships, lighthouses, ports, resorts, and details of all
types." I have not been over ever square foot of scenery, and I will
admit that I have not spent a lot of time flying through this area. But I
have not found many of these details on the flights that I have made.
There are times when I wish the documentation would point out where some
of these things are.
I do not want to sound too negative about this disk because that is not my
intention. First, Mallard's documentation has improved signifi-cantly
since its earlier releases. The book is now produced on quality paper and
the font is clean and of readable size. The documentation makes good
suggestions about how to get the most of the scenery, from tweaking the
system to speed performance, to a small travelogue on what islands you are
looking at as you fly by.
Second, the scenery comes with some preset modes, so you very quickly get
the plane on a runway and get going.
The are a couple things I do not care for. First is a problem that I have
found on all three of Mallard's recently released disks, which is that on
the scenery menu the disks are listed as "MS-1," "MS-2," and "MS-3." And
since I loaded my disks out of order, I get "MS-3," "MS-1," and "MS-2."
The real problem is that they could have named it "Tahiti" or even "MS-2:
Tahiti" and opted for "MS-2" instead. This is a minor problem, since I
can find out which MS scenery this is by digging up the docs or by
checking out the names of the modes. But I think they could have renamed
these things.
Another thing I do not care for is the lack of ATIS. I will guess that
this is due either to Tahiti's lack of ATIS in real life, or that the ATIS
would probably be in French. But so little scenery, like my old SubLOGIC
scenery, has ATIS capability that I enjoy having it when it is available,
and I would prefer more of it.
I find it hard to wrap this up because I do not have a strong
recommendation to give. The Tahiti scenery offers 18 landing strips, many
islands to hop, some VORs and NDBs for guidance, and scenery quality that
is every bit up to normal FS expectations. But I have not been captivated
by it. Tahiti does not have the equivalent of Grand Canyon's bobsled run.
It does not have territory that I have really seen, like California and
Hawaii. And it does not have all the extra stuff to do, like SubLOGIC's
Hawaii scenery. Tahiti is as good as the default scenery that comes with
FS, but it does not offer anything more. Not to me.
So my advice is this. If you want a new place to fly around, Tahiti is a
fine disk to buy. If you want beautiful scenery and a way to break up the
FS blues, Tahiti probably will not help.
What it really needs is some Tahitian music, and some girls in grass
skirts dancing. Now that's scenery!
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by J.A. Ollinger. All rights reserved.
SSI's ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: A CRITICAL OVERVIEW
by Sir Launcelot Du Lake
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, arguably the most complex role-playing
system ever devised, has been the flagship of Strategic Simulations for
more than three years. This article examines the evolution of the game
since it's first inception as a CRPG in Pool of Radiance, it's spread into
almost every other genre in computer gaming, and finally asks some
critical questions concerning directions for future titles.
THE GOLD BOX SERIES
The mainstay of the AD&D line of games, 9 titles have been released so far
(at this point it is unclear whether SSI would release a closing chapter
to the Forgotten Realms II series). The constant improvement towards ease
of play can be most clearly seen in the development of the interface in
this line of CRPGs. In Pool of Radiance, the most inane part of the
interface was the repetitiveness of having to get the clerics to heal
characters and rememorize spells ad infinitum. This was addressed in
Curse of the Azure Bonds with the Fix option. Another form of
repetitiveness that plagued the system was the constant selection of
spells to be memorized during resting. Since most players select the same
spells again, it was nothing short of tedium to have to do it time and
again. Since Death Knights of Krynn, selected spells were rememorized
unless the player chooses otherwise. The elimination of such busy-work
has made the game much more enjoyable.
However the latest title of the Gold Box series, The Dark Queen of Krynn,
saw a bizarre mix of improvements and "devolution". On the one hand, the
ability to load a save game in the midst of adventuring without having to
drop to DOS was a long awaited feature (strange that it took 8 titles
before this was realized!). On the other, the removal of the feature that
allowed the right mouse button to exit a menu or option was sorely felt!
Since Champions of Krynn, when the mouse interface was first introduced, I
only had to right-click to leave a menu and enter another above it. Now,
I have to travel all the way to the exit button and left-click it. This
may seem like nit-picking, but after 4 previous titles, the interface had
become automatic to me. Needless to say, I went through a third of the
game before I could unlearn the previous habits and adapt to the new mouse
gymnastics. The potential pitfall of leasing the coding to a third-party
unit (The Dark Queen of Krynn was coded by Micro Magic) was obviously
realized here.
The main focus of the Gold Box series is the combat. It is here that
SSI's experience as the premier wargaming company shows itself. The
combat system is, in my honest opinion, one of the best ever seen in a
CRPG. The focus on tactical battles lends a feel of miniature wargaming
whenever one resolves combat, and players are left to focus on the battle
itself, since the computer takes care of all the die rolls and statistics.
However, in strength we also find weakness. SSI may have gone too far in
it's emphasis on combat. In a system where 80% of the adventure lies in
resolving battles, subsequent sequels begin to have a more-of-the-same
look to it. There is also a tendency to have ever tougher finales. The
finale in Pools of Darkness was perhaps a little excessive and unfair,
even for characters who have achieved near godhood levels. Perhaps the
system can evolve to incorporate more interaction with story elements. The
attempt to do that with the inclusion of romantic interaction in Treasures
of the Savage Frontier was not exactly a high point. The "interaction"
basically consisted of having certain events occur in a more or less set
chronological order.
Anyway, SSI has decided to put to rest the 8-bit engine of the series (I
do hope, however, that they come up with a sequel to Treasures of the
Savage Frontier, for the sake of continuity and consistency). A new 16-
bit engine awaits us in the Dark Sun series. Let us hope the lessons
gleaned from the success and hiccups of the Gold Box series will not be
lost in the new adventures.
LEGENDS
Although the Gold Box CRPGs were the mainstay, we find an exciting new
perspective in the Legends series. Inspired by what Dungeon Master did
for the Amiga, Eye of the Beholder and The Legend of Darkmoon has brought
the concept of the living dungeon into the IBM. I was actually scared and
profoundly startled several times when I heard footsteps resounding and
frantically looked in every direction, only to suddenly see an adversary
standing right in front of the party! A superb piece of sound and
software engineering! Kudos to Westwood Associates and SSI! However, one
hopes they improve the combat system. While I don't really mind the real-
time combat, having the perform mouse contortions with the 6 characters
does not bode well with RPGers. Perhaps SSI can include auto-combat
routines that can be assigned to characters like in Origin's Ultima VI and
VII.
The good news here is that although Westwood Associates (now Westwood
Studios) has been taken over by Virgin, SSI will be developing a third
installment in the series. (ED. See preview of Eye of the Beholder 3 in
this issue.) I think this series is also highly suitable for conversion,
hopefully enhanced, into CD-ROM.
ACTION
While AD&D fits like a glove in the RPG genre, titles have also been
released in several other genres. To date, U.S. Gold and SSI have
released three action titles set in the Dragonlance game world - Heroes of
the Lance (based on the Dragons of Despair game module), Dragons of Flame
(based on the module of the same name), and Shadow Sorcerer (based on
Dragons of Hope). All three games have focused on the adventures of the
Companions of the Lance set in Margaret Weis's and Tracy Hickman's
Dragonlance Chronicles.
The first two titles looked and felt like something you would expect in a
video game, but the graphics were pretty good during their time. Shadow
Sorcerer shifted to the isometric view made popular by Populous (no pun
intended, heh) and is a little less dependent on joystick-breaking
ability. This genre is good for a breather between heavy adventuring in
the CRPG realms.
ADVENTURE
The only attempt in this genre is Hillsfar (though you can also classify
it as action), set in the Forgotten Realms and meant as a stopover for
characters from Pool of Radiance on their way to Curse of the Azure Bonds.
The system and interface seems crude by today's standards, but the
improvement in hit-points at the end makes this journey worthwhile. This
was also developed by Westwood Associates, as is the next title.
SIMULATION
Dragonstrike, a very tough dragon combat simulator (and as far as I know,
the only one of its kind). Indeed, I defeated the Death Dragon only
through sheer luck. The player advances through the ranks of the Knights
of Solamnia and the missions generally follow the path in the War of the
Lance. The paintings between each mission are superb. The soundtrack is
very good and catchy, and is probably the best I've heard coming from SSI,
who seem to be very stingy on good music. Then again, Westwood designed
this (heh).
WARGAME
Inevitably, War of the Lance, the epic struggle between the forces of
Takhisis and the shaky Whitestone alliance where most of the early
Dragonlance novels were set. Designed by the award-winning duo of David
Landrey and Chuck Kroegel (Gettysburg, Battles of Napoleon), the play is
not easy for Whitestone and one will need some tactical finesse to hold
the Queen of Darkness or defeat her. The inclusion of heroes, diplomacy,
and magical artifacts adds new dimensions to the wargaming concept.
Weaknesses include the lack of a mouse interface, no hidden movement, and
the inability to play the Nerakan forces in solitaire mode.
THE FUTURE
In addition to Shattered Lands, the first installment in the Dark Sun
series, Pirates of Realmspace, set in the Spelljammer universe should be
out by the time this goes to print. Word is that SSI will be releasing
titles set in two other TSR game worlds - Ravenloft and Greyhawk. There
will also be a new system based in the Forgotten Realms setting. There
are also rumours that the Legends series and the new Dark Sun series will
be the first titles from this venerable Advanced Dungeons & Dragons line
to make the move to CD-ROM. I think it is high time that SSI expand the
series beyond mere hack-and-slash. The potential to do so much more in CD
format is just sitting there asking for a creative team to take advantage
of. Let's hope SSI Special Projects (the group that first developed the
Gold Box engine) is one such team.
ADDITIONAL WISHES
I would like to make several wishes in addition to what was already
apparent before. A wargame set in the Forgotten Realms would be nice.
Perhaps one could use the Horde campaign seen in the Empires Trilogy.
Another possibility is a tactical level assault on Yulash between Hillsfar
and Zhentil Keep forces. One could also replay some of the battles
between the Ffolk and the Northmen set in the Moonshae Trilogy. Or perhaps
a miniatures strategy game using the Battlesystem rules.
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Greenwood, E. (1988). Spellfire. TSR: Lake Geneva
Novak, K., & Grubb, J. (1988). Azure Bonds. TSR: Lake Geneva
Ward, J.M., & Brown, A.K. (1992). Pools of Darkness. TSR: Lake Geneva
Ward, J.M., & Cooper-Hong, J. (1989). Pool of Radiance. TSR: Lake
Geneva
Weis, M., & Hickman, T. (1984). Dragons of Autumn Twilight. TSR: Lake
Geneva
Weis, M., & Hickman, T. (1985). Dragons of Winter Night. TSR: Lake
Geneva
Weis, M., & Hickman, T. (1985). Dragons of Spring Dawning. TSR: Lake
Geneva
Weis, M., & Hickman, T. (1986). Time of the Twins. TSR: Lake Geneva
Weis, M., & Hickman, T. (1986). War of the Twins. TSR: Lake Geneva
Weis, M., & Hickman, T. (1986). Test of the Twins. TSR: Lake Geneva
Wynn-Fonstad, K. (1987). The Atlas of the Dragonlance World. TSR: Lake
Geneva
Wynn-Fonstad, K. (1990). The Forgotten Realms Atlas. TSR: Lake Geneva
AD&D GAME WORLDS
Dragonlance
Set in the world of Krynn, this was the first detailed world designed by
TSR. The computer action games follow the adventures of the Companions of
the Lance in the continent of Ansalon during the tumultuous time known as
the War of the Lance. The Gold Box Dragonlance series - Champions of
Krynn, Death Knights of Krynn, and The Dark Queen of Krynn - are set after
the War of the Lance, when Takhisis was successfully prevented from
entering Krynn at the conclusion of Test of the Twins, and the delicate
balance between the forces of good and evil restored. The Dark Queen of
Krynn involves the continent of Taladas as well. Dragonstrike and War of
the Lance are set in Krynn as well.
Forgotten Realms
Set in the world of Toril, the Forgotten Realms is even more detailed than
Krynn. Designed by Ed Greenwood and others, the situation in Toril is far
less clear-cut than the delicate balance between good, neutrality, and
evil in Krynn. For starters, there is a much larger pantheon, and
allegiances are vague among the races, cities, and kingdoms. Important
figures and groups include Elminster, the greatest archmage in this world,
the Harpers, a force for good, and Zhentil Keep and the Red Wizards of
Thay on the evil side. The Forgotten Realms I series - Pool of Radiance,
Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades, and Pools of
Darkness - is set in the continent of Faerun, bordered by the Moonsea
region to the north, Anauroch the Great Desert to the west, and Cormyr to
the south. The Forgotten Realms II series - Gateway to the Savage
Frontier, and Treasures of the Savage Frontier - is set in the lands to
the west of Anauroch, bordered by Icewind Dale to the north and Calimshan
to the south. The Legends series - Eye of the Beholder, and The Legend of
Darkmoon - is set in and around the city of Waterdeep, the greatest city
along the Sword Coast.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Sir Launcelot du Lake. All rights
reserved.
STUNT ISLAND by Disney Software
Reviewed by David Pipes
Disney Software's Stunt Island falls into the category of groundbreaking
games. Actually, it leaps there. As Simcity and Railroad Tycoon did
before it, Stunt Island takes off as an ordinary genre game - the flight
simulator - and immediately veers off into uncharted territory, merrily
flying through loops of film editing and touring newly designed sets of
cinematic wizardry. This plain simulator acquires the expected Disney
magic by letting you become the Director - nay, better still, the Editor -
of all you survey.
Actually, the first thing you will survey is the Island itself. Composed
of a number of sites - post-production, the airfield, the stunt director's
office - the film consortium's headquarters is navigated with the help of
a number of useful signposts. You will never be more than a few mouse-
clicks away from any particular location. Tropical plants and birds add
a Hawaiian feel to area.
Once you've taken a look at the black and white map of the Island which
accompanies the game, you can travel to the airfield to borrow one of many
aircraft available for stunts and site-seeing. For your first trip, I
suggest a jet, which can reach speeds of over 400 miles an hour to get you
to interesting sights quickly, but still allow you to loiter at slower
speeds to admire the terrain.
Travelling around will also give you a feel for what is one of the more
pedestrian elements of the game, flying. While this is a component of all
of the stunts, the flight models are primitive compared to some of the
genre's more recent offers. A joystick will help, but the basic nature of
the simulator is still that of the car your Dad always loaned you while
you were learning to drive; it'll get you there, but it is not a Ferrari.
For example, I found that the joystick response has a lag built in, in the
use of a dead zone in stick response. While this is necessary to handle
joysticks which are very sensitive or a little jittery, it induces a
distressingly accurate simulation of pilot induced oscillation. In PIO,
your response to visual input is slow enough that your commands come too
late, and exaggerate whatever situation exists. This is a manageable
problem, but it can be annoying.
In addition, either the ailerons or the rudder can be controlled by the
side-to-side motion of the stick, but not both. This is truly weird, and
must be set before the stunt. I would have preferred the standard
solution of setting aileron response to the stick motion and putting the
rudder controls on the keyboard. Some complex maneuvers are nearly
impossible without an uncoordinated rudder and aileron.
However, the planes do fly predictably and without undue fuss. I have had
little trouble completeing stunts, and the flight models rarely get in the
way. What the above comments are meant to convey is that, as far as the
actual simulation of flight in the game is concerned, you have just
purchased a sensible, sturdy simulator, without the hard-edged chromed co-
processor model of a Falcon 3.0. This is probably a good thing, in light
of what you are asked to do with these planes.
Anyway, the best way to keep your mind off of the plain vanilla flavor of
the flight model is to look out the window. At first, you'll think that
you flew back in time a few years, with triangular mountains jagging up on
the horizon. Just fly around a bit, and you'll realize that this is not
the case.
The true nature of the game is found in the cities and towns which dot the
island. Block after block of city buildings, with skyscrapers and bridges
in the distance. Trees which actually look like trees - lots of them.
Windows and doors, paving lines on the streets. Intricate specialty
structures, like a full power station or a military base with row after
row of tents. And with all of this, no real noticeable slowdown in
display rate! While the game does recommend a 386-33DX or faster, there
are reports on the Net of reduced detail versions running very well with a
386-25 SX, so there is hope for the budget machines out there. This is a
game of fast, vibrant graphics, which will leave you feeling like you are
on a high-powered workstation rather than an ordinary pc. It gives the
feel of soaring freely through the sights of the Island, and creates the
critical impression of actually being there which gives the game its'
amazing feel.
Stunt Island was built with 34 main locations to film in, as well as
plenty of "empty" forests, mountains, ocean, rivers and the like to allow
you to build your own sets. The locations range from landing strips to
LAX, and from a small fishing village to Jackson City, a metropolis with
parks, highway interchanges, docks, skyscrapers and the Golden Gate
Bridge. In other areas, you will find Alcatraz Island, a medieval castle,
a farm, a Hydro power plant, 2 stadiums, a tunnel, the UN building, an
aircraft carrier, the LA Aqueduct, canyons, oil rigs, bridges, lakes,
forests, jungles, beaches, freeways, a dam, railroad tracks, a movie
studio and even Stonehenge. All rendered with surprising detail - signs
outside businesses, power lines with wires, suspension cables on bridges,
vegetation, sidewalks in parks...
There are two major parts to Stunt Island; the Competition, and film-
making. The competition is a set of 30-odd stunts ranging from easy (fly
through a barn) to difficult (land on top of a building) to
"what-kind-of-mutants-can-do-this?" (landing a plane on the next-to-last
car of a moving train). You compete with computer players to finish
scenes in the fewest number of takes. (I have not found a way for
humans to actually be in the competition simultaneously, although you can
of course fly back to back missions outside the competition and compare
scores.) At the completion of each take, you can save your film for later
work, or just have the computer produce a finished work for you. Flying
in the competition is good for those who like to dive into a challenge
without worrying about details; it is a great stress reliever after a
long day.
The other side of the game is more complicated. It involves actually going
into the game as a designer, carefully building a set with the addition of
up to 32 props and 8 cameras (which can be concealed as other objects, or
made invisible). Yes, 32 props does not sound like much - until you
realize that these props are not just window dressing.
Stunt Island contains many hundreds of objects to use in stunts. The
planes are there, as you would expect, everything from balloons and
pteradactyls to Curtiss Junebugs, WWI fighters, '30's racers, WWII
fighters, civilian and military jets, the stealth bomber, the SR71, the
Space Shuttle - a modern menagerie of movie magnificents. But there are
other things as well - plants, movie-making equipment, cars, trucks,
buildings, military vehicles, missles, ships, submarines, smoke... A
gigantic list of, well, toys for you to play with. Best of all, like all
the really good toys you wanted as a child, when you wind these up, they
move.
All of the props can be programmed to move. They can wait for an event
and then start or stop motion. They can explode, or fire weapons, or
careen into obstacles and then explode. They can chase you, or you can
chase them. Hit a car and it will follow your directions to spin out off
of the highway overpass into the traffic below. Cameras pan and zoom to
record your progress. An entire clockwork organism which you create can
be set into motion, to be integrated into raw film by your success at the
critical time in the cockpit of your plane. This is the Vulcan second
heart of the game, the thing which ensures that it will not join the other
old flight simulators on the shelf when the mechanics of just flying pale.
This is where you become like Peter O'Toole in "The Stunt Man", all-
seeing, all-knowing director of a carefully fashioned illusion.
As Director of a stunt, you need to learn more than just set design. You
need to consider the field of view of your cameras, to make sure that the
background is consistent and pleasing. You need to have enough cameras to
get the myriad views which will make up the final scene. Some way to get
generic footage is advisable, to fill in dead space or facilitate a cut
from one place to another. Props must add to the view, not obscure it.
This aspect of the game is so complete that I suspect that this is based
on an actual planning tool used by Disney to put together scenes. I
believe that this program could actually benefit classes in film-making;
the simulation is that complete.
Of course, putting all this detail together is time-consuming. But once
you get the hang of it, you will have no trouble. Here are a few hints
for handling the set design: Remember that all props must have their
elevation adjusted. Click on the crosshairs in the view window and hold
while using the mouse to maneuver to the correct location. The actual
point of placement is directly below the crosshairs, so the overhead angle
is best for placement. Place the object, then adjust its' altitude until
it is visible in the correct location. Then you can make it invisible or
program it as needed. Lock your props and save after placing each one.
Don't use any more program commands than are absolutely needed - they have
some surprising interactions. Use the crosshairs again to move around and
check the view from the placement location.
So, you have flown around and done a few stunts. You have even set up
your own. What is next? Editing, of course. This involves the raw
camera film from each angle and a dual cassette video mastering machine,
with sound and special effects available. Basically, you select portions
of the raw footage to be copied from one machine to the second, which
contains your final version. You can add 2 channels of sounds, which come
in a great variety giving you music, screams, explosions, engines and the
like. You can even use your own .voc files. And there are visual effects
- fade in and out, vary color saturation. Combined with the ability to do
quick-cuts and use other standard editing techniques, you can turn a 30-
second stunt into a tension-filled 2-minute epic, or reduce a leisurely 5
minute flight into a montage of close calls and daring flying. Other
films can be loaded in to tie two or more stunts together, or to provide
stock footage - a plane turning against a clear sky, for example, can
replace a boring shot of a straight approach to the target. This is what
making movies is all about. One of the more interesting things to do is
to give the same raw footage to several different people, then compare the
final scenes. You'll be amazed at how differently people approach the same
tasks.
The final films can be freely distributed, with some files which allow
them to be viewed and heard. Thus, you can upload your best stunts to
your local bulletin board, or take a portfolio over to your best friend's
house to wow the kids.
All in all, Stunt Island is a good flight simulator, but that is not its'
only strength. The movie-making is unique, and is the true appeal. Up to
20 minutes of finished film can be produced in one segment, allowing some
truly creative work to be done. Disney Software has a hit with this
program, make no mistake about that. As I said in the preview last month,
many people are going to find this program waiting for them over the
holiday season; it runs a good chance of preventing them from getting to
any others that might happen to appear.
Stunt Island requires 570k free RAM, a 386-16 SX processor, 256-color VGA
and color monitor, 13 MB of free disk space and DOS 3.3 to 5.0 as a
minimum. I would recommend a faster machine - 386-33 DX - for full
detail, as well as a mouse and a joystick. A sound board of the Adlib,
Roland, Sound Blaster, Thunder Board or Sound Source families is a good
addition, while extra RAM - at least 2 MB - is also helpful. There is a
problem with the use of a Sound Blaster; the sound will have a "fuzzy"
overtone, but it does not seem to interfere with the understanding of
speech or effects. On my machine, it sounds a bit like light radio static
- nothing terrible.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by David Pipes. All rights reserved.
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ Game ³ The Games: Summer Challenge ³
³ ³ by Mindspan Distributed by Accolade ³
ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍØÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵
³ Machine ³ û 8088/8086 (XT) û 80286 (AT) û 80386/80486 ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Graphics³ ù CGA û EGA û VGA ù SVGA ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Sound ³ û PC Speaker û AdLib û Soundblaster û Thunderboard ³
³ ³ ù Pro Audio Spectrum û Roland ú Sound Source ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Control ³ û Keyboard ù Mouse û Joystick ù Gravis GamePad ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Memory ³ ù EMS ù XMS ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Size ³ 1400 kb fast load / 820 kb slow load ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Other ³ 10 MHz AT recommended ³
ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
Reviewed by Ron "Steroids? What Steroids?" Dippold
Boy, we've come a long way from Olympic Decathlon! Or am I dating myself?
Every four years you can count on a spate of related games, and we haven't
had any shortage this year. This one is a bit strange in that it was
released long over the the '92 Olympics are over. Perhaps they figure that
you're not as burned out on the Olympics as you might have been earlier
this year.
Mindspan came out with The Games: Winter Challenge a while ago, so it was
only a matter of time before this one came out, and I had a pretty good
idea of what it would be like. And I did, sort of, but they did surprise
me in a few places.
First, the whole thing is immaculately polished. The pop-up menus look
great, the backgrounds are good, the music is good and yet unobtrusive. No
detail has been spared in the animation. Even the install program has nice
graphics - no text mode for this game. And, in a welcome change from other
recent games, I couldn't find a single bug or glitch.
The whole spin here is a combination of 3D polygon graphics and bitmap
graphics to provide a great graphical effect. The athletes and other bits
that need detail are all bitmapped - they're hand drawn by the graphic
artists. Everything that needs to be three dimensional is done with shaded
3D polygons (like you'd see in a flight simulator). For instance, in the
Kayak event, the kayak is all bitmapped, the water and flue are 3D
polygons, and the background picture is bitmapped. In this way, we can see
the flue from any position and get a good sense of motion.
The polygons aren't very complex, so the 3D pieces stand out as large flat
surfaces, and even curved surfaces are easily seen as being made of flat
squares, which is somewhat distracting. In other words, we're not talking
about technology at the level of Stunt Island, but it serves its purpose.
You can practice each of the individual events, or compete in a tournament
against your "friends." Any performance in an event can be saved to disk
for later replay, which is an excellent way to prove that you did what
you've said you did.
The screen layout is consistent from event to event. About an inch on the
bottom of the screen is taken up with information - the name of the event,
the record, the current competitor, the time (or distance), the speed, and
the number of the trial. Of the remaining screen, the left third is taken
up with an overview of the event. For kayaking or equestrian, for
instance, it'll be an overview map of the event with your current position.
All the action takes place in the remaining part of the screen.
This is one game that actually plays pretty well with just keyboard
control.
ARCHERY
This is one of the few events in which everything is bitmapped. You stand
at one end of the field, looking at the target which is on the other.
You're almost looking over your archer's shoulder. An expanded view of the
target lets you aim - the cursor wobbles all over the place like Otis after
a bottle of moonshine, making it tough to aim. You've got to release the
button when you think the cursor is over the bullseye - the closer to the
middle you hit the higher your score. You fire twelve sets of three arrows
for a total 36-arrow score. You have thirty seconds to shoot each set of
three, so you can't try forever to get the cursor on the center. Scores
are kept in the overview window.
This one is very simplistic, but pretty fun, especially with others playing
- the games can be very close, as you usually get somewhere near the
middle.
EQUESTRIAN
This one is really impressive, one of the surprises I mentioned earlier.
You need to ride your horse on a winding course over sixteen obstacles to
jump. Your view is from right behind the horse (yet tastefully done), and
the track and obstacles are 3D. It's tricky to stay in the middle of the
track and jump at exactly the right time. Jump too early or too late and
you can knock a bar off the obstacle and lose penalty time. Your horse
might refuse to make the jump if it's really impossible to make, say if it
would land on a brick wall (it's smarter than you are). In that case you
come tumbling off the horse and it's a fault for that round. The overview
window gives you an overhead map of the event with your position.
This one is definitely going to take you a lot of practice - I still
disqualify myself most of the time.
KAYAKING
To my mind, none of the events in Summer Challenge has quite the thrill
that the downhill skiing events in Winter Challenge do. This one comes the
closest. You're taking your kayak down a steep 1 kilometer long (Mindspan
is in Canada, eh) flue. Don't hit the walls, or you'll spill into the
drink. Oh yeah, it's also a slalom course - go between all the pairs of
poles, and don't hit any, or you'll get penalty time added to your score.
The kayak and poles are bitmaps, and the flue and water are 3D - so you can
see the whole thing from any angle. This means that if you're pointed at
the right wall you might miss a gate near the left wall until it's almost
too late. You can do a sharp turn, but that really cuts down on your
forward speed. The overview window gives you an overhead map of the event
with your position.
This one I really like - it's a major challenge to hit all the gates and
still get a decent speed.
400 METER HURDLES
This one's a keyboard / joystick killer. Run as fast as you can around a
track by pushing the button as fast as you can. You also need to jump over
some hurdles that some SOB has inconsiderately placed in your path. The
runner is bitmapped, the track and hurdles are 3D polygons. The hurdles
are a real pain to jump - if you don't time it just right you'll knock it
over (ouch), or even worse trip over the darned thing and disqualify
yourself. The overview window gives an overhead picture of the track with
your current position.
This is something you'll get more fun out of in a team setting - it just
doesn't thrill that much as an individual event.
POLE VAULTING
Oy! This is easily the hardest event in the whole thing. Set the height
(in practice mode) or accept the height given to you (in tournament mode) -
you get three chances to clear. Start running at the bars as fast as you
can (press that button as fast as you can), put your pole down at exactly
the right time to get in the springpit, shoot up to go over the bar, and
release at the right time. If you're on, you'll clear and hit the pad on
the other side. If not, you'll rack yourself on the bar, go under it, or
just miss completely - there's a nice graphic if you land on the ground.
The runner is bitmapped, everything else is 3D, so you can get a good look
at the poles, bar, and pad from any position, and you really feel like
you're running at the poles. The overview window lets you adjust the
height of the bar.
This one is interesting in single player mode if only for the challenge,
and also in tournament mode with a high bar.
HIGH JUMP
This is a little brother of the pole vault. Jump over the bar onto the
pad, but you don't get a pole - you've got to Fosberry Flop over without
it. Of course the bar is a heck of a lot lower. Less challenging and not
as exciting as the pole vault.
JAVELIN
Toss the javelin as far as you can (but don't skewer anyone in the crowd).
Run as fast as you can by pressing the button as fast as you can. While
you're doing that, press the other button to start cocking the javelin, and
release it at the right time for the maximum distance. And don't foot
fault. Depending on the speed and angle you choose, your javelin will
travel a certain distance. The farther it goes the better, obviously.
Everything is bitmapped here. The overview window gives you a top view of
the field so you can watch your javelin travel.
This one is interesting in that there's so much you can do to affect the
distance the javelin goes, and the event is very short so it's easy to
experiment.
CYCLING
Go around the banked oval track four times as fast as you can (hit that
button). Don't go off the track on either side or you'll bite the ground.
The biker is bitmapped, the track and overpasses are 3D. This is extremely
unexciting, and I don't expect it to hold anyone's interest. Much like
golf on TV.
Summary
First, for the most obvious comparison, if you liked Winter Challenge you
should like Summer Challenge. You won't find the gorgeous graphics that
you'll find in some other Olympics games out this year, but you will find
great playability, the graphics are certainly above average, and it's fully
bug free and polished. That last may not sound like much, but it's very
frustrating in other games to have the computer lock in the middle of a
tournament or have some irritating bugs that affect your score, and Summer
Challenge is as solid as a rock.
The sound is also very nice - a sound card adds a lot. This is best when
played with a friend or two, or maybe an enemy whose butt you can kick -
practice hard first. You might even be able to talk your kids into some
wagering if you pretend you're really bad, and recoup the cost of the game.
Thumbs up on this one - solid entertainment value.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Ron Dippold. All rights reserved.
ED. - For a landmark series as the Wizardry family is, it should only be
expected that we would receive and gladly publish two reviews of this
hallmark RPG. Enjoy both viewpoints.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WIZARDRY 7: CRUSADERS OF THE DARK SAVANT by D.W. Bradley and Sir-Tech
Software, Inc.
Reviewed by Daniel J. Starr
Technical Specifications--
CPU: 10Mhz or faster recommended
DOS: PC/MS-DOS 3.X or 5.0
Memory: requires 577K (590,848 bytes) free conventional memory,
supports expanded memory or ramdisk
Hard Disk: 6.5 MB required
Interface: Keyboard or Mouse [I recommend the use of a mouse]
Graphics: 256-color VGA/MCGA or EGA
Sound: Ad-lib, Roland LAPC-1/MT-32, Covox Voice/Sound Master,
Sound Blaster or PC Speaker
[if you have both a Roland and a Sound Blaster or
compatible, you can configure the game for simultaneous
Roland music and Sound Blaster sound effects.]
Over a decade ago -- can it be that old? -- the original Wizardry game
came out. Down its line-drawn 3-D halls tromped we gamers, many of us
fresh from "people and paper" role-playing games, and armed with our
"DUMAPIC" (great light) and "TILTOWAIT" (nuclear blast!) spells, we
uncovered all manner of strange puzzles, stranger treasures and their
downright bizarre guardians -- remember the "creeping cruds"? It was all
so new and fresh then... Fittingly enough, its latest successor likewise
has fresh vigor to it, even in a computer-game genre that is far more
crowded now than it was then.
WIZARDRY 7: CRUSADERS OF THE DARK SAVANT is the seventh installment in
the classic Wizardry series of computer role-playing games (CRPGs). W7's
game system is much like those earlier Wizardry games. Its sound,
graphics and interface are comparable to most other CRPGs on the market
today. What sets W7 apart is a compelling atmosphere -- a sense of things
wonderful and strange, throughout the game -- that I have not found in
other CRPGs.
The story is centered around the search for the Astral Dominae, an
artifact holding the secrets of Creation that was hidden centuries ago on
the newly rediscovered world of Lost Guardia. As the game begins, the
player's party is deposited on the planet as a representative of one of
the many factions searching for the artifact. Over the course of the
game, the player's band of adventurers seeks to unravel the mysteries that
hide the Astral Dominae, and to do so before their rivals, among them the
mysterious and feared Dark Savant. I should mention that this is a long
game -- 100 hours is about the minimum to solve this game, and 150 or 200
will be more like it for most players. Fortunately, those hours will be
pleasant ones -- W7 is rarely boring.
The player's party of characters can be imported from the previous
Wizardry game, Bane of the Cosmic Forge, or can be generated at the
beginning of the game with the genre-typical choices of race and class.
W7, unlike most CRPGs, virtually requires characters to change class once
or more during the game to get the optimum blend of skills. Skills in this
game include not only combat and magical adeptness but also such abilities
as swimming, climbing, diplomacy and mapmaking, each invaluable at certain
points. W7 sets the strength of the opposition in each area according to
the party's power when the area is first entered. This keeps the game
challenging without making certain areas impossibly difficult or depriving
the player of the joy of crushing once-deadly opposition.
The interface centers around a first-person "view window" portraying the
area in front of the party. Each of the six characters controlled by the
player has a small picture to the side; clicking on this with the mouse
opens up a screen describing the character's attributes and equipment.
Beneath the view window is a compass rose. Clicking on a compass arrow
moves the party in the appropriate direction. Clicking on one of the
icons surrounding the compass lets the party search the area, rest, use an
item or cast a spell. I found the interface intuitive (and quite similar
to that of several other CRPGs).
As the party moves through the world of Guardia, they will encounter other
groups, both peaceful and otherwise. Peaceful groups can be negotiated
with; success depends on the party leader's attributes and Diplomacy
skill. A befriended individual can provide useful equipment or
information, including rumors about the locations of maps for decoding the
mystery of the Astral Dominae or of other persons the player may be
looking for.
One of the most innovative and exciting features in W7 is the presence of
dynamic non-player characters (NPCs). Your party is by no means the only
one looking for the artifact -- there are a number of NPCs who move across
the map, looking for the very same clues you are. It is entirely possible
to unravel a tortuous maze only to find that someone's made off with some
(though not all) of the reward already -- which naturally leads to a
furious hunt for the NPC and the clue he bears. It is also possible to
find that NPCs are hunting you! Although most NPCs will be willing to
trade their clues to you peaceably, the simple fact of competition adds a
real tension and urgency to the quest that I found refreshing.
The arrival of the various search parties on Guardia has heightened
tensions dramatically, and most groups encountered will be hostile.
Combat in W7 is turn-based: at the beginning of each turn, the player
selects the actions of all party members, whereupon the computer executes
their actions and their opponents' and reports the results. This repeats
until one side or the other is entirely dead or fled. One of the keys to
success in Wizardry is learning to coordinate the party's actions in
combat -- because there is a _lot_ of combat. While combat is not the
center of the game by any means, there was enough random violence to annoy
me at times.
The heart of W7 is its puzzles. These puzzles range from mazes to riddles
to unusual manipulations of items. Some puzzles are self-contained;
others require items or clues from elsewhere. The "reward sequences"
after the completion of the puzzles are generally well done. There is no
fixed order to the first several puzzles, and even toward the very end the
game virtually requires you to backtrack and retry an old puzzle with new
information. I rarely felt artificially constrained to a certain course
of action during this game. I found the puzzles generally challenging but
not impossible, and was always pleased when I found the solution.
The most intriguing aspect of W7, in my opinion, is also the hardest one
to convey precisely: its atmosphere. Like some good science fiction
novels, but unlike most current CRPGs, there is a real sense of discovery
and mystery as you explore W7's world. Even after my characters had
advanced to the heights of power, I found it very difficult to become
jaded with the game; it's just too full of fresh, compelling and exotic
material. The world of Guardia includes a fairy with a face of gold on
top of a dark mountain, a dark tower filled with mysteries and ruled by a
debauched priest, a decaying town taken over by spider-creatures from the
stars, and much more. Even though these are described mainly by a few
pictures and some text, I found the game successful at drawing me in and
maintaining my interest. There is a marvelous abundance of invention in
this game, waiting to be discovered by the player.
W7 has a number of technical features to enhance and simplify play. It
provides automapping with the novel feature that the quality of one's map
depends on the skill of the character with the map kit. W7 has both music
and sound effects; the music is nothing special, but the sound effects are
impressive. On a Sound Blaster or compatible card, the effects run the
gamut from birds crying to wind in the trees to monsters retching after a
spell of nausea has been cast upon them - - a sound that must be heard to
be believed! Copy-protection is tolerable: look up a word in the manual
each time you run the program (and only then).
WIZARDRY 7: CRUSADERS OF THE DARK SAVANT is not perfect, and is probably
not for everyone. People with a low tolerance for random violence may
become fed up with it. Fans of ground-breaking graphics will find W7's
pictures well done but not amazing. Lovers of the "realism" exemplified
by Ultima 7 will be disappointed to find very little extraneous detail in
W7; the atmosphere is conveyed by the general images of a place and by the
text descriptions that accompany special locations and events. I
personally would recommend W7 as the best role-playing game of the year,
because of its compelling atmosphere. In this respect I find it best
comparable to a good sci-fi novel rather than to any current computer
game. It kept my interest and made the puzzles worth solving and the
monsters worth fighting, just to see what strange and elegant creation was
coming next.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Daniel J. Starr. All rights
reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WIZARDRY VII: CRUSADERS OF THE DARK SAVANT by Sir-Tech Software Inc.
Reviewed by Daniel G. Kennett
Playing Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant (W7 herein), brought
back memories of the original Wizardry. Upon opening the box for W7, one
is confronted by a small "Mordor Charge" credit card. I can still
remember the cartoon in the first Wizardry manual, depicting a
sign
saying "Mordor charge accepted here". The flavor of the original
Wizardry is present in W7, creeping cruds and all!
Graphically, W7 is miles ahead of previous Wizardry's. NPC (non-
player character) graphics have been beautifully hand drawn, adding to
the exquisite graphical look and feel of the game. NPC animation leaves
something to be desired, switching between images is jerky and detracts
from game play. Backgrounds are also well drawn, but the flora and fauna
graphics are not up to par with the other graphics in the game. My
major complaint with the graphics of W7 is the feeling of "tunnel vision"
while playing, when compared to other games like Ultima Underworld, the
straight ahead view is becoming dated.
On the other hand, the sound effects for the game are excellent.
I tested W7 with and without a Sound Blaster. With a sound card you get
background music and sound effects. Without a sound card you must use
the PC speaker for sound effects only. I found that the difference
between the quality of sound effects produced by the speaker and the
Sound Blaster, almost nonexistant. The sound effects coming from my PC
speaker were grainier than those generated by the Sound Blaster, but not
by much. For those without a sound card the presence of these sound
effects adds a nice touch to the game. The background music, while not
incredible, was pleasing to listen to.
Plot wise, W7 appears to be pretty large. So far, I have played
for more than 40+ hours and am no where near finishing the game. Some of
the puzzles can be quite nasty, be prepared to think. This is surprising
considering the game comes on two high-density disks, as compared to other
CRPG leviathans (Ultima VII or Clouds of Xeen). The plot is consistent
and well written, with many twists and turns to keep the player interested
in what is going on and not in how many experience points are needed to
gain another level. My main quibble here lies in combat. Even on a 486-
50 combat can take a while. You attack, pause, you hit, pause, the
computer notifies you of damage, pause, and you start all over again.
Furiously clicking on the mouse buttons does speed this up, but it its
still slow! Aside from that I didn't find myself becoming bored while
playing.
The manual is a hefty 107 pages long, graced with exquisite
artwork. In my opinion the manual is one of the best I've seen for any
game I've played. The people at SirTech did an excellent job when they
made the documentation.
Overall I found W7 to be an enjoyable game. While the plot isn't
completely original, it does have a few interesting twists. I would
recommend this game to anyone who enjoys the Wizardry style and to anyone
who likes a good fantasy role-playing game.
Overall Rating (1=Very Poor; 10= Excellent)
+=================+==================================+
| Graphics | * * * * * * Above Average |
| Sound | * * * * * * Above Average |
| Documentation | * * * * * * * Very Good |
| Originality | * * * * * Average |
+-----------------+----------------------------------+
| Overall | * * * * * * Above Average |
+=================+==================================+
Hardware Requirements:
REQUIRED: 640K RAM;
Hard Disk Drive,
PC/MS-DOS 3.X or 5.0.
RECOM'D : 10 Mhz or faster.
SUPPORTS: Mouse or Keyboard
GRAPHICS: 256-color VGA/MCGA or EGA
SOUND : Ad-Lib,
Roland LAPC-1/MT-32,
Covox Voice/Sound Master,
Sound Blaster or PC Speaker.
Test systems for the game were:
486-50DX,
4 meg ram (60ns),
130 meg HD (15ms),
14" Darius Monitor,
ET4000 Tseng video card,
3 button Logitech Mouse Man.
Same configuration as above, with a Sound Blaster
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Daniel G. Kennett. All rights
reserved.
AXELAY by Konami
For the Super Nintendo
Reviewed by Tim Clinkenpeel
The theme behind AXELAY is _exactly_ the same as that of super contra 3:
wayward extra-terrestrials have happened upon earth and unleashed their
weapons o' mass destruction upon her. Why do these heinous confrontations
always befall humankind? Perhaps earth lies at some pivotal point in the
galaxy, or perhaps Konami had layoffs in the idea department.
game type: shooter # of players: 1
lives: 3; death upon full collision, weapon loss on grazes
continues: 3
The object of the game is destroy everything in sight and avoid enemy
fire. Industructible obstacles also hamper your journery.
The playfied appears either from an above-and-behind perspective or as a
side-scroller.
OVERVIEW: highlights (+), shortcomings (-) and mediocrities (o)
- Although game control is adequate, the control configuration screen
earned a minus as I felt it served no real purpose other than to appear
sophisticated. You can select which button you want to use for general
purpose shooting and which you want to use for missiles/bombs; HOWEVER,
since both are unlimited in supply, i couldn't see why you wouldn't
want to map both functions out to the same button (and i did).
+ The artwork in the game is top-notch, yet...
- ...the background (in some levels) tries to appear as a planet surface
rotating beneath you but ends up looking more like texture-mapped taffy
being pulled towards the screen. a good concept poorly executed.
o Sound? the music and effects didn't leave much of an impression on me
either way.
- Gameplay was nothing groundbreaking or for that matter nothing very
exciting. bosses, although excellently rendered, were disappointing.
one boss was an obvious copy-cat of ED-309 of robocop fame. all the
bosses I battled were easily defeated by simple patterns, some even had
'hiding spots': areas on the screen were you were completely safe to
loiter; you could abandon the game, assemble a sandwich, and resume
unscathed.
- Another complaint i have is the 'weapons installation' screen before
each level: the choices are severely limited to the point where it's
obvious which weapons were intended for each stage (although not
necessarily preferred). In fact on level one you have absolutely no
choice as only one option exists, yet you have to sit through the stage
and watch the icons move from the 'available' column to the 'on your
ship' column. Cheezier still is the goofy sample "weapons installation
complete. Prepare for battle... good luck!" -- again, serving no
purpose other than to wow simpletons.
- My final gripe is that stages are long and tedious. this factor didn't
help the replay value or my desire to press on for virgin territory,
knowing that I'd have to sit through a extended period that amounted to
little more than a uninteresting review of the game. I'll admit the
game was challenging... AT FIRST. Once you get used to the distracting
backgrounds and enemy strategy, it becomes quite easy.
OVERALL RATING: 5.5 -- a mediocre rating for a mediocre game. Without the
groovy graphics I would have given the game a point or two below that
score. My opinion is that it's a last-resort rental for an otherwise
uneventful evening, possibly greater value if you're a big shooter fan.
+--rating-scale----------------+
| <2 complete trash |
| <4 not worth the bother |
| <6 possible cure for ennui |
| 6-8 merits rental |
| >8 worthy of purchase |
+------------------------------+
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Tim Clinkenpeel. All rights
reserved.
SUPER HIGH IMPACT FOOTBALL by Arena Entertainment
For the Sega Genesis
Reviewed by Marc Goldman
Summary: One or Two players, head to head play or 2 against the computer.
Three difficulty levels.
Another football game hits the tough Genesis market, which boasts possibly
the best football game of all time; John Madden 92. And invariably, all
new pretenders to the throne, be they arcade or simulation games, are
going to be compared to it.
How does this compare? I'm sorry to say it doesn't even come close.
So what do you get for your $50????
Well to be fair, the game does seem to be a pretty good conversion of the
slightly suspect coin op of the same name. Albeit with smaller graphics.
The game lets you play one off matchups between two teams of your choice,
including some rather odd teams from Europe and Africa! The choice of
team only seems to effect the color of the stripe worn and doesn't change
your tactics, similarly playing surfaces make little difference.
The game is played on the horizontal view point similar to Joe Montana 2.
Plays are selected from an easily operated menu, but most don't come close
to resembling real plays. One defensive play has six of your players
running backwards and forwards for no apparent reason!!
Once you hit the field, you find running with any player except the QB is
nearly impossible, especially through the middle as you get hit very
quickly. And in the case of running through the line you can't change
direction quickly enough, you'll be running the QB backwards one second
then, as you hand off, the running back who is running in the opposite
direction loses all his momentum and stops because it's physically
impossible to change direction on the joypad quickly enough. Now if only
the running back continued in his motion until you directed him otherwise.
Passing is far easier, but there isn't that much skill involved, you
either get the pass off in the direction of the receiver or get sacked.
Selecting the receiver is done by pushing up or down on the joypad to
direct the pass. How you pass to a guy running a route down the middle, I
don't know. It all seems like luck, you either get 30 yards or lose 10 on
the sack. But with this system a 4th and 30 is always a possibility!
Defense on the other hand is real hard work, interceptions are lucky, at
one point I had 2 interceptions followed by two fumbles in 4 drives and
then for the rest of the game I couldn't get a thing. Linemen cannot be
controlled and although the computer can sack you easily (23 times in one
20 minute game) you're lucky if you get him.
Couple that with the fact that you can have real hurry up offenses, where
you can use less than five seconds calling, setting up for and running a
play, means this game leads to big scores, the fewest mistakes wins.
The computer plays a mean game because defense is so hard, but it isn't
too hard to keep up with him. Difficulty settings didn't seem to make
much difference.
The game is fast, I'll certainly give it that, perhaps too fast as most
plays are over before they begin. And it's very noisy too, plenty of the
samples from the arcade machine are there but they seem to be used a
little too often.
The graphics are small and not amazingly well animated but they at least
look like football players, although the overall effect of sound, graphics
and presentation is very slick it has a not quite finished look.
But it's not all the above that really puts me off the game (as I really
am prepared to give all football games a chance) although they go a long
way toward doing so, it's the little things that really do it for me.
Things like: you can't direct your kickoffs, field goals are dependent on
how fast you press the buttons, fighting is pointless (at least it can be
switched off), onside kicks when you really need the ball back aren't
possible, the clock keeps running at times it shouldn't, you can force
your opponent (if the computer) to use the hurry up offense just by
calling your play quickly, (okay so this helps you but it's wrong!) the
list just goes on....
The two player option could be the real saving grace for this game, (but
as yet I haven't tried it because no one was 'round last night!), as
sports games are often greatly improved with human competition.
To me the game just seemed to be too hit or miss, there was no real skill
involved just a lot of luck and strategy never comes into it, it's
basically let's heave it down field on every play, so no doubt Raiders
fans will enjoy it, if nothing else!
My advice is to either wait for the forthcoming Madden 93 or get a used
copy of Madden 92 (which should be pretty available on the net soon) but
save your money by avoiding Super High Impact unless you were an addict of
the arcade version.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Marc Goldman. All rights reserved.
NCAA BASKETBALL by HAL America and Sculptured Software
For the Super Nintendo
Reviewed by Charles Daniel Carleton.
This game puts a new perspective on video basketball. The main difference
between it and most others is its viewpoint. It uses the SNES's special
hardware to show the floor and backboards in perspective, with the nets
and players being drawn as scaled bitmaps. The effect is that during
play, the viewpoint is above and behind the player with the ball and is
pointed to the net that the offense wants to shoot for. If the ball is
passed, the view chases the ball to its reciever. When the ball changes
posession, the view smoothly rotates around the new ball carrier to look
at the new ball handler's target. At tip-off, the view is a side view
until one of the players gets the ball, when the view looks toards the
goal. This all eliminates one problem I had when playing video basketball
of losing track of the ball when it was passed amid the confusion of
players. Since the view is always centered on the ball, you can't lose
sight of it.
Despite the constantly shifting viewpoint, the game is very controllable.
Movement is relative to the current view. If you push up, you run away
from the screen, back takes you toward the screen. Side motion moves you
side to side. If you are playing offense, up is towards the goal because
the view is always looking at the goal. A big advantage for
controllability on offense is that because the viewpoint is always close
to the ball, you get an exellent view of the area around your player,
while still being able to check the situation at the goal. On the
downside for defense is that if you are trying to control a defender
that's not close to the ball, you can't see him as clearly and its harder
to control. Of course, you can always switch to a closer defender. If
the ball gets past your current defender, he goes off screen, and the only
thing that indicates his location is an arrow pointing at the bottom of
the screen. In this situation, its best just to change defenders.
When you are on offense, there is always one player that you can pass to.
He is indicated by an icon that floats over his head. The icon indicates
the players position by shape and a letter. The color of the icon
indicates how easily you can pass to him. If it's green, you can pass
easily. If it's yellow, you might have the ball intercepted. If it's
red, your handing the ball right over to the opposition. The designated
reciever is usually the teammate that you are running towards, and you can
change that simply by running in a different direction.
One thing that adds strategy to the game is that your players can get
tired. If a player gets tired, there will be a very noticeable decline in
his performance. Since each player has different levels of skill, you may
have to count on your star player being out of the game to rest while you
make do with weaker players. Deciding when a player should rest and who
should fill his position in the meantime can affect you strategy and such
decisions are influenced not only by the game situation, but by what team
you are playing as. Some teams have a few 'star' players and you might
try to bring them back into the game just as soon as they are rested.
Other teams are more balanced, so you won't lose you edge when you need to
switch players.
You can choose from a wide variety of teams from various conferences.
Each team has real stats from last year's season, but the player names
have all been changed. In general, you can expect your favorite team to
be as strong in the games as in real life. There are difficulty settings,
but difficulty can also be based on team selection. If you play as Duke,
you will have it easy. if you pick the team with the worst record, expect
a challenge.
Games can be one or two players. There are exhibition games where you
select teams for both sides and play one game. You can select the
difficulty and length of games in this mode. Exhibition games can have
one or two players. The season mode allows you to play an entire season.
Your regular season only plays you against teams in you own conference.
If you do well enough in the regular season, you go to the tournament and
with luck and skill, on to the Final Four. If you get into the
tournament, you can start a new team at tournament without a regular
season. If you get into the final four, you can start in the final four.
There is a game save which allows you to save at nearly any point in the
game.
Offensive and defensive plays can be selected at any time in the game
using the L and R buttons. L switches plays, and R shows the current
play. It can be difficult to think about plays while you are busy
controlling the players, though.
My opinion of the game is that in both graphics and gameplay it's the best
basketball I've ever played short of the real thing. The graphics are not
just flash, they add to the playability of the game. The weaknesses for
the defense side can be overcome once you get used to the new view. For
offense, play is so intuitive that you can get used to it very fast, even
if you don't have a copy of the instructions, which was the case when I
first tried it out at one of those Nintendo demo stands. As for play
selection, I never really mastered that. Paging through the different
plays during the action can be quite distracting. A friend of mine tried
to make life confusing for me be randomly hitting the L button to change
the play rather than paying any attentions to what the plays did. It's a
great game all on its own, and for two players, it's even better.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Charles Daniel Carlton. All rights
reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
NCAA BASKETBALL by HAL America and Sculptured Software
For the Super Nintendo
Reviewed by Perry Denton
Picked up NCAA Basketball a few days ago, but didn't want to post any
opinions until I played a few games. The game uses a unique 3-D
perspective following the location of the ball (the graphics look a lot
like the Rocketpack sequence on Pilotwings, I suppose all mode 7 effects
done well do). The game include teams from 5 conferences (ACC, Big East,
SEC, Big Eight, SWC).
The controls are standard in a basketball game, except that on both
offense and defense you can change "formations" (eg man-to-man, 2-3) on
the fly. On defense, you can also steal, jump, and change defenders.
Offense is the standard pass or shoot. When close to the basket, you have
a choice of five different dunks. Passing is done by displaying an icon
over the head of the player you will pass to, with the color being how
safe the pass is. (Green = Very safe, Red = Very Dangerous). Plus the
icon contains a letter letting you know the position of the player you are
passing the ball to. Free throws are done with arrow pointing down over
the basket moving left to right.
The game comes with battery backup, allowing storage of FOUR different
conference seasons of play. Stored are conference records and standard B-
B statistics (Points, rebounds, steals, blocks, free throws, 3 ptrs). It
is a good idea to leave one of the four battery spots open because they
can also be used to store games in progress.
During game play, the current score, shot clock, total fouls, your player
and his position are clearly readable at any time. By pressing Button
"R", you can look at your current defense or offense play.
On any out-of-bounds possession, you can substitute players or check
current statistics. Players are labeled as "FRESH" "HOT" "TIRED" or
"WEAK", to help in substituting decisions. In addition, during this time,
you can change the "style" of your play, "Fastbreak" or not, "Crash the
Boards" or not.
The games includes most of the standard fouls in college BB, and uses
digitized animation displaying the refs hand motion.
Okay, so what do I think about it? With all the arguments going on about
graphics, gameplay, and sounds going on, I think I will break up my review
into those parts.
The graphics are amazing. Fluid animation of all players (much more so
than Electronic Arts series), plus smooth scrolling following the action
of the ball. This is no spectator feel to this game, YOU are playing.
Only on steals and corner-to-corner passes does the rotating hurt
(slightly) the game play (because of the 180 spin of the court). The only
drawback is that there is no background, too bad they couldn't figure out
and take the time to have fans in bleachers that scale and rotate during
play also (maybe the game designers did, but it probably would be harder
to follow the action of the ball).
The sound is the only poor aspect of the game. Standard white noise for
the fans (ala NHL Hockey). The do use a cool digitized sounding "We Will
Rock You" Stomp-Stomp-Clap occasionally during the game. Plus all play and
ref calls are spoken ("Steal", "Foul by Center", etc)
Again, the game plays so differently than any other computer basketball
game. You feel in total control of the game. You can control bad passes,
you can defend as aggressively as you like, you control the shots, the
dunks, the style of offense and defense. Outstanding.
My only gripe so far would be with the difficulty level on conference
play. I'm new to this game (5 games played so far), but I slaughtered NC
State using North Carolina 100-40. Maybe NC State had a poor team last
year. I'm waiting to play this with a friend to see what 2 player
competition will be like. I don't see any way to choose difficult levels
or time of periods during conference season play, but for an individual
game there are 3 levels of difficulty, so I assume for seasonal play you
are playing the most difficult level. The difficulty seems to be related
to the team you choose and the team you are playing against (eg. poor
shooting teams shoot poorly, sounds obvious but not all BB games play this
way).
Oh yea, another MAJOR gripe is no BIG TEN (arguably the best conference is
college basketball (and football for that matter)). I would love to play
as my alma-mater Illinois against such foes as Michigan, Indiana, Ohio
State. I guess I can always wait for NCAA Basketball II.
Overall this game rates at least a 9 on innovation alone. Hopefully, this
will be the standard in which all sports games will be compared.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Perry Denton. All rights reserved.
SEGA CD MULTIMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM
Peripheral for the Sega Genesis
$299.99 Retail
Reviewed by Jer Horwitz
With much public anticipation, Sega of America unveiled their "multimedia"
accessory for the Sega Genesis system in early November, selling out
immediately at almost every location across the country. The Sega CD
system is Sega's answer to Nintendo's Super NES system, capable of
rotating and scaling both images and background graphics, as well as
producing higher quality stereo music and sound effects. In addition, the
Sega CD makes use of nearly unlimited [by video game standards] memory
capabilities to store digitized video and true digital-quality CD music
tracks, which can be played back with movie-like effects. Sega achieves
some of their new tricks by using custom graphics and sound chips, as well
as a second Motorola 68000 processor which can be used in tandem with the
one found in the Genesis.
The Sega CD retails for $299.99, and comes packed with five CDs, three
containing games and two with music. The games are: Sega's translation of
the successful ICOM personal computer and TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM, Sherlock
Holmes: Consulting Detective; a re-release of a cartridge shooting game
(Sol-Deace), renamed Sol-Feace; and four "classic" Sega cartridge titles,
Golden Axe, Columns, Streets of Rage and the Revenge of Shinobi. One of
the music CDs is a sample of "CD+G", a two-year old CD which plays
normally when in car and personal stereos, then displays special graphics
when used in a special type of CD player.
Turning the system on, Sega's "theme" for the Sega-CD becomes apparent.
Futuristic music plays through the PCM chip while the Sega-CD and Sega
logos rotate and scale against an outer space background. Pressing the
start button takes you to a menu screen where you can either play music
CDs, CD+Gs, or CD-ROMs. The menu also allows you to use the battery
backup feature of the system, and performs utility functions for the as
yet unreleased RAM cartridge, which will let you save certain (no, not
all) games in progress and copy battery-backed saved games from the CD to
the cart and vice-versa. The Sega-CD, as a compact disc player, lets you
program a full menu of songs track by track and play the tracks randomly.
It also features 32 times oversampling, which means that the sounds that
come from the CD player are very likely to be as perfect as they were
recorded.
The Sega-CD isn't particularly fast when it comes to loading games,
although it is significantly better than the Turbografx-CD. Where it
shines is its use of a 6 megabit memory buffer, through which an entire
game can be loaded in one chunk and played with one 68000 CPU, while the
other CPU attends to the tasks of looking for the CD music track to play,
etc. The buffer also lets the system show lengthy animations without
interruption.
Although the system's specifications look good on paper, the initial batch
of American releases for the system hardly use any of the advanced graphic
powers Sega boasts about. The one category where Sega delivers the "next
level" of gaming is the use of "full-motion video", the replaying of
digitized frames of video-taped movies. Several games, including Sherlock
Holmes: Consulting Detective, Night Trap, and the Japanese strategy game
Tenkafubu, show video footage within a small area of the TV screen at a
reduced color palette. Although the movement is somewhat below the
television broadcast standard of 30 frames per second, with fewer colors,
the video display is watchable and enjoyable. Additionally, Renovation's
Cobra Command takes its graphics and sounds directly from Data East's
Laserdisc arcade game, which plays Japanese-style realistic animation
while the player shoots at targets and dodges obstacles found in the
background art.
Releases have been few and far between for the system in Japan, despite
Sega's claims of support from over 20 licensee companies. Games like
Sega's Woodstock Funky Horror Band (Sega's only release for the Mega-CD in
Japan from the date of release to September, 1992) were poor enough that
they now sell brand new in Japan for the equivalent of $6 despite a retail
of $45. The role-playing game Lunar: The Silver Star, however, is
currently fluctuating on the Japanese "all time best Sega games" chart
between number 1 and 2 of over 200 games. Another interesting point is
that Sega has opted to produce games like Streets of Rage 2 and the
Japanese RPG Land Stalker in 16 Megabit cartridge format rather than
release them at a lower price on CD. While these games could have drama-
tically increased sales of both the Japanese and American systems, Sega
has decided against an obviously reasonable move. Why? I can think of two
reasons: Either Sega has given up (in Japan) on trying to give people a
good reason to buy their CD system, or they are trying desperately to
release a 16-Meg cartridge like Capcom's Street Fighter II.
The reasonably high price of the system was to have been compensated for
by bolstering the CD player with several good free games. Unfortunately,
two of the free game CDs included with the Sega system are poor choices.
The four-in-one "classics" disc contains a copy of Golden Axe (released by
Sega two years ago) which doesn't work properly (the two-player option)
and has music which stops the gameplay to load, unnecessary in a dual-
processor system like the Sega-CD. The Sol-Feace CD is nothing more than
the year-old cartridge game plus a new opening and ending animation
sequence. Sherlock Holmes is the only game which could have been
logically packaged with the system, and even that title should have been
replaced by its newer sequel. Sega earns a failing grade for giving kids
a Christmas present which comes free with "a $350 value", the same
Christmas presents they got last year and the year before.
The games which have been released in America are reasonable. Bignet's
Black Hole Assault is a robot battle game with cinematic stories placed
throughout. The game presents graphics which are impressive perhaps to
Genesis owners, but not to anyone who frequents the arcades or owns a
Super NES. (At the price of the Sega-CD and Genesis combination, I could
actually compare Sega's duo to a Neo-Geo, but that would be...unfair.
[?]) The play mechanics are improved only slightly from the extremely poor
Heavy Nova, released originally for the Mega-CD in Japan and then on
cartridge for the Genesis. Sega's Night Trap is a 2-CD game with
digitized video throughout, where you try to stop vampires from killing
beautiful co-eds. The game is better than the pack-in Sherlock Holmes,
but the interactivity of you and the graphics is limited to pressing a
button to choose which segment of the video to watch. Finally,
Renovation's Cobra Command is a Laserdisc video in the same vein as
Dragon's Lair, except you control both the movement of your helicopter's
missile and machine gun crosshairs and occasionally the yoke of the
helicopter itself.
In the final assessment, the Sega-CD, although delayed for a year in order
to "properly support it with software", hit the shelves with games only
slightly better than those released in Japan when the "Mega-CD" debuted
there one year ago. In games released thus far (and this may change by
the time this article is printed), there has been no sign of the scaling,
rotation and zoom capabilities of the system save simple scaling in the
title screens of two Japanese games. What has been seen thus far is an
evolutionary improvement on the TurboGrafx-CD "cinema intermissions" and
personal computer (and TG-CD) digitized video themes. The "proper
software support" statement seems almost to be an eternal problem for
Sega, as nothing they release ever comes without delay, nor does it tap
even the surface of what the hardware is said to offer.
Meanwhile, Sega has saved all of their potentially interesting releases
for the weeks and months to come. Translations of several popular IBM PC
games written by Sierra, Lucasarts and Origin are expected to be in stores
by Christmas. Batman Returns and Joe Montana Football III, the first
games to employ scaling and zoom, should have been released by the time
you read this. Final Fight is being readied for December release in
Japan, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2: CD Special is planned for March in Japan.
Batman Returns, Montana Football 3 and Sonic II are rereleases of the
cartridge games with additional levels and music, while costing $10 less.
What is the future of the Sega-CD? Hopefully better than that of the Meg
-CD, which now sells in some areas of Japan for $225 without software,
despite a $375 retail price. It is obvious why they packed the games they
did along with the CD-ROM -- they know people would be saving their extra
money for their later releases. Is that reasonable? After Christmas, the
sales receipts will tell.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Jer Horwitz. All rights reserved.
STREET FIGHTER II by Capcom
Reviewed by Tim Clinkenpeel
Let's face it. If you don't know what STREET FIGHTER 2 is you've been
living in a cave for the past year. Street Fighter 2 is _the_ biggest
grossing coin-op game of all time. It has set a new standard for arcade
animation and has given birth to a whole new genre of video games.
Not everyone is elated. Some fear that too much future coding energy will
be spent on chop-socky games and other concepts will be neglected. I
originally subscribed to this school of thought; however, I now feel that
is a bit paranoid and unrealistic. The video game industry pretty much
caters to the players' whims. Presently, hordes of gamers flock to SF2,
Mortal Kombat, Sen-Gok, etc... and that's where the money is. When the
desires of the playing public change the industry will follow. I like to
think of it as a form of evolution. It's my personal belief that virtual
reality games will be the big hit of the near future. I've seen a
prototype of such a game that makes Street Fighter 2 look like go fish.
Now let's get back to the present and back to the review.
Game Type: Chop-Socky (beat'em up) # of Players: 1 or 2 versus
Lives: Must win best out of three rounds to advance
Continues: Unlimited
You must combine dexterity, reflex, know-how and a little luck to succeed
at Street Fighter 2 (hereinafter "SF2"). What follows is a description of
the game; common knowledge but reiterated for the sake of 'newbies'.
SF2 is a one-on-one matchup of you versus either the computer or another
player. You must first select your video-alter-ego from a set of eight
characters, each with unique traits and abilities. In player vs. computer
you first fight the other seven characters (other than yourself), then
move on to an additional three opponents and the grand finale, either M.
BISON or VEGA depending on your locale. Defeating BISON/VEGA will be
rewarded with an endgame sequence, the complexity based on your skill
level and performance.
The game screen is viewed from a "spectator's perspective", eye-level
directly in front of the action. A 'health' meter for both players is
located at the top of the screen. When the meter expires, sianara.
Double knock-outs or 'ties' are possible.
OVERVIEW: highlights (+), shortcomings (-) and mediocrities (o)
+ Gameplay is as fast 'n' furious as you decide to tackle (as per your
level setting) and is highly addictive. I used to despise street
fighter 2 with a passion and ridicule those who flocked to it. Then
I was asked to do a review. Reluctantly I accepted. I was concerned
that my review would be unfairly biased due to my prejudice. Now am
I am avid player. I think what makes the game work is the plethora of
attack moves to choose from, the continual learning process involved
(which moves counter which moves, speed and effectiveness of special
moves, etc.) and the requirement and mastery of the skill/reflex. Add
to that the competition factor; the satisfaction gained from crushing
your opponent and remaining unscathed.
+ An excellent arcade translation, only one shortfall...
- The barrel stage has been replaced with a 'bash the bricks' stage--very
lame. Could have been cool, but the fact that the pile of bricks
actually consists of five 'brick groupings' which simultaneously crack
and break is weak. Not a major concern. The 'destroy the car' stage
is still intact.
+ Game control is excellent. I give the credit to nintendo, the
corporate types that they are, for having the foresight to include a
sufficient number of buttons on the controllers. I can't imagine how
SF2 is going to work on the Genesis or Amiga. The benefit of having
all six buttons unique is that your SNES SF2 skills are directly trans-
ferable to the coin-op. Obviously the configuration will be
different, but it is still relatively easy to adapt. The button
mappings are fully configurable.
+ Graphics are great in regards to the animation; it is smooth but the
real clencher is the sheer volume of sprites. I think the desire to
see all the characters in all the positions is an effective lure for
many players. It may not sound appealing, but wait until you give
Sagat a flying headbutt or Bison a few power noogies. Entertaining
and devastating. The 'ground' is superbly animated to realisticly
appear three-dimensional, but...
- ... the backgrounds, although well-rendered, are poorly animated. Many
background characters consist of nothing more than two flip-flopping
frames that accelerate at the end of the round. Whoopee. Why did they
botch it in such a visible area? Whereas i didn't even notice the
abovementioned ground scrolling until I had been playing a week, I
criticized the backgrounds before I had even touched SF2 myself, merely
viewed it briefly on machines adjacent to the pinball machine I was
playing. I admit this is a minor concern--who spends much time staring
at the backgrounds? Not me, but especially since they are less than
stellar.
+ The sound is perfect. A new tune for each backdrop/opponent, doing a
good job of adding the the game yet not dominating. Harmonious and
haunting. A good choice of instrumentation. And how about the sound
effects? Good groans, smacks, chops, hacks, whacks and shouts. Very
good.
+ The fun factor rates high. It converted me. The longevity also rates
high. Although I personally don't play for extended periods, I find
myself playing many consecutive days, taking a few off and then
anxiously returning to the fray anew. No feelings that any significant
part of the game has grown old, that milestones have been past and no
new territory lies ahead. There are always new adventures to be had.
OVERALL RATING: 9.5 -- It's safe to buy this game outright. If you are
reluctant because beat-em-up's aren't your bag, go ahead and rent it
first. You'll be hooked if you have the stamina to stick with it and get a
few moves down.
+--rating-scale----------------+
| <2 complete trash |
| <4 not worth the bother |
| <6 possible cure for ennui |
| 6-8 merits rental |
| >8 worthy of purchase |
+------------------------------+
+-------------------------+--hints-&-strategies-------------------------+
Don't over-use the fierce buttons. Although they can cause a high degree
of damage, they are slow to execute and leave you vulnerable in the
meantime. A quick succession of jabs or short kicks can be highly
effective.
Master all the 'special moves'. Without them under your belt your
opponent has the advantage.
You can play the same player vs. the sample player (in human vs. human
mode) by entering the following code before the Capcom logo fades on the
startup screen: pad down, right button, pad up, left button, y, b, x, a.
a 'chime' and blue background on the main title screen confirms correct
code entry.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Tim Clinkenpeel. All rights
reserved.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 (Genesis) by Sega
Reviewed by Brett Kottmann
SONIC 2 has the unenviable task of trying to be better than the original
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. Fortunately (for gameplayers and Sega) it succeeds on
all levels.
From the title scene on you realize that this game is much more than Sonic
in a new wrapper. His sidekick, Miles "Tails" Prower joins him for twice
the fun, twice the speed and twice the foot-tapping when you stop moving
(well, okay, Miles yawns). If you are curious about Miles' name, say
Miles Prower all-together.
SONIC 2 has three different ways of being played. You can play either one
player (using Sonic, Miles, or both), two player cooperative, or two
player competative. In competition mode, the screen is split horizontally
and the first player controls Sonic on the top half while the second
player controls Miles in the bottom. This mode marks a large increase in
graphics processing from earlier games as both halves contain the same
amount of graphics as the regular SONIC 2 screen. You'll play four
different zones from SONIC 2, with a running total being kept of who wins
each zone. Overall winner is the player who wins the most zones.
I had the most fun playing SONIC 2 with Miles alone. He's just too cute
to leave behind, and having both on the screen is distracting. I must say
that having Miles along with Sonic does have it's rewards, though. He'll
rescue Sonic from the clutches of various creatures before Sonic is
harmed.
SONIC 2 has the following zones, with 2 acts in each one except for
Metropolis Zone, which has 3 acts and Skytop, Winged Fortress and the
final zone, which have one act: Emerald Hills, Chemical Plant, Aquatic
Ruins, Casino Night, Hilltop, Oil Ocean, Metropolis, Skytop, Winged
Fortress, and the final zone. With a total of 19 acts, SONIC 2 is about
the same size as the original SONIC.
Emerald Hills strongly resembles Green Hills from SONIC 1. However, the
addition of corkscrew loops and a new style of springboard adds to the
enjoyment. Both acts have one-ups hidden. Revving up Sonic (or Miles)
for a super-burst of speed can be rewarding. Combinations of jumps from
springboards also is necessary to reach all the "hidden" areas. The
Starpost (bonus) zones are particularly well done. Sonic and Miles race
through a 3-D tube collecting rings and avoiding obstacles. Getting all
six chaos emeralds will prove to be a golden event.
Chemical Plant is my least favorite. It tends to get tedious, and is too
much like the Spring Yard Zone in SONIC 1. There is, however, a short
path loop that can result in multiple one-ups (which are in both acts).
Since the monitors are reset after a Starpost is touched and special zone
entered, you can travel around a short loop of the path and get the hidden
one-ups several times. Best not to dwell on this level, though, the next
level (and one of the best) awaits!
Aquatic Ruins resembles Labyrinth Zone from SONIC 1, but is much richer in
detail. With multiple pathways and both underwater and above-ground
sections, Aquatic Ruins requires a sharp eye. Both acts have hidden one-
ups. It requires a little ingenuity to reach some of the underwater
platforms. Remember that fastest is not always the best choice. Finding
the one-ups requires a little afterthough (or hindsight).
Next is Casino Night, where hours of enjoyment are yours for the asking.
There are one-ups hiden on each level, and by playing the "slot machines",
you can get at least two more one-ups. Also, since Starposts reset the
number of rings required for another one-up, letting time run out on you
is not always bad. Anyone who used to watch "The Joker's Wild" will like
the slot machines. Cries of "Jackpot! Jackpot! JACKPOT!!!" will soon be
heard as Sonic & Miles score big. Watch out for Robotnik, though. He can
ruin your whole day with a single spin. This level definately deserves
several 10-minute segments.
Hilltop is kind of a Marble Zone in the mountains. There's lava,
breakable areas, monsters and single-use trams to get you jumping. Look
around carefully and you might find the hidden one-ups in each act. Don't
dawdle, though. Earthquakes might do you in. Besides, the Mystic Caves
await....
Mystic Caves is where Sonic and Miles become special agent Sonic, Sonic
Bond and special agent Miles, Miles Bond. Vines, levers, spikes and
hidden one-ups provide thrills. The paths are on several levels, and
backtracking can be a wise move. Not all Starposts should be touched,
lest you find yourself without rings against Robotnik. Take your time,
though. This zone requires brain power and not speed. Finding the hidden
one-ups in each act is difficult, but not impossible for this dynamic duo.
Oil Ocean is a bleak, lonely area. Oil greases some paths, dumping Sonic
and Tails into an ocean of sludge. Only quick leaps and fan or two can
save you. There are hidden one-ups on each level, and finding them
requires looking before you leap (or ride). Watch out for flying
Seahorses, you can loss many a ring by moving too fast.
Metropolis represents another step up for SONIC 2. The spinning tumblers
can make you dizzy, if not Sonic and Miles. Patience will be rewarded
here also. Difficult jumps are required to progress through the acts.
Don't be afraid to pause and observe the machinery. Progressing past the
boss in act three takes an unconventional (for Sonic) approach.
The Sky zones and the final zone bring more surprises. I won't go into
detail here, except to say that the careful acrobat will succeed.
In general, SONIC 2 has set a new level for Sega games. Game control is
precise, with few slowdowns. Graphics are nicely done, with attention
paid to background detail. Where finishing fast was the object in SONIC
1, taking your time in SONIC 2 will yield the most gains.
I especially liked the Aquatic, Casino, and Mystic zones. Two player
cooperative may be a bit boring for the person playing Miles. He tends to
fall behind when Sonic moves fast.
The bosses are, unfortunately, easy to beat when you see the pattern
required. This isn't a major problem for me, as I find bosses are usually
just an obsticle to prevent people from finishing the game too quickly.
But with SONIC 2, you'll find yourself still playing it when Christmas 93
rolls around. A must buy for any Sega owner.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Brett Kottmann. All rights reserved.
ULTIMA UNDERWORLD II by Origin / Looking Glass Technologies
Preview by Thom Vaught
The second installment of Ultima Underworld casts the Avatar into a new
adventure. It is Avatar meets the Poseidon Adventure. Instead of being
trapped in a sinking ship the Avatar is trapped in Castle Britannia. The
Guardian has placed a blackrock sphere around the castle and all its
occupants are trapped. While they are trapped in the castle, the rest of
Britannia is sinking beneath the Guardian's tide. Blackrock is impervious
to weapons and magic. The Avatar must plunge into the underworld beneath
the castle searching for a way of escape.
Several of the Avatar's friends are trapped within the castle. They
provide useful advice and information. Also, they provide training when
the Avatar increases in level. Among those in the castle are Lord
British, Dupre, Iolo, and Miranda. Each of them has ideas about what the
Avatar must do to find a way of escape. All of these characters should be
visited periodically as the story emerges.
Once the Avatar finds a way into the underworld beneath the castle, the
adventuring begins. The exploration and combat are very similar to the
first Underworld game. However, don't think this is just a rehash. There
are a lot of new things in the Underworld.
The Avatar must not only explore the Underworld, but also alternate
planes. For example, there is a world of ice that must be explored. Once
the Avatar finds these other worlds, there are a lot of different things
to contend with. The presence of several worlds to explore offers change
from the traditional dungeon environment. In each world there are new
traps and puzzles to challenge explorers. The terrain itself provides
different challenges in the various worlds.
Along with those major enhancements, many other improvements were made.
More spells have been added. There are also new creatures the Avatar will
encounter. The viewscreen is larger than in the first game. Also, the
warping that would occur when a wall was viewed at close range has been
fixed.
From my experience with a beta copy of the game, I'm impressed. I found
the first game to be a little repetitive. Underworld II, though, has a
lot of variety and promises adventurers many hours of exploration and
discovery. Those who enjoyed the first game should enjoy the second even
more. Those who did not enjoy the first game may want to take look at
Ultima Underworld II because there are many improvements.
This preview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Thom Vaught. All rights reserved.
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER 3: ASSAULT ON MYTH DRANNOR by SSI
Previewed by Ross Erickson
With the possible exception of FTL's Dungeon Master, the Eye of the
Beholder series was perhaps one of the first key game series which
truly was innovative in its screen presentation. EOB1 and 2 brought the
term 'being there' real meaning. First-person perspective adventures and
RPGs have flourished since the Legend series first began. The first two
adventures in this series were developed by Westwood Studios, but since
WW has jumped ship to Virgin Games, it was always a question mark whether
there would ever be a concluding chapter in the EOB series. SSI to the
rescue! Developed completely in-house by SSI development, EYE OF THE
BEHOLDER 3 (EOB3) will bring to a close this historic series.
EOB3 takes place in the city of Myth Drannor, a ruined city within the
Forgotten Realms world. Your four-player party must adventure into
unknown worlds to wrest an divine artifact from the dreaded undead lich,
Acwellan. Along the way, you'll encounter beasts and monsters of many
kinds, some of which will become your allies. Saurials, Were-Tigers, and
Sprites will help you in your quest to defeat Acwellan. Like its pre-
decessors, EOB3 offers a feast of puzzles, traps, and mini-quests. The
icon-based approach has been streamlined significantly. The interface
provides smooth moves and an automatic attack function during combat.
While the graphics are truly stunning, SSI says they have concentrated
heavily on the interaction and puzzle-solving. This looks to be a very
rich and deep adventure. The world in which you interact not only takes
place in the dungeons like EOB1 and 2, but also above ground in a rich
environment that includes forests, a mausoleum, a temple, and several
guilds. SSI says that you can import characters from EOB2, intact with
their weapons, treasure, and experience levels.
SSI has also added a lot of cinematics to the game to add continuity to
the flow of the story. There are over three times as many cut scenes in
EOB3 compared to EOB2, plus six fully-scored music pieces to add to the
suspension of disbelief. The music alone hasn't been enhanced; there are
over 70 digitized sound effects such as screams to spell explosions to
bird chirps.
EOB3 is the final chapter in this series and SSI expects to go out with a
bang. As successful as this series is, one can only wonder with delight
at what might be coming next.
EOB3 should be available in April.
This preview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Ross Erickson. All rights reserved.
Editor Note: The accompanying screen shot of Battlecruiser 3000 A.D.is
in Super VGA mode 640x480x256 color. On Super VGA systems, this image
should display properly. We have a known bug with certain older models
of Paradise cards. Also, there is no lock-out in place yet preventing
anyone with a standard VGA system from trying to display this image,
though only garbage will be displayed. In a future edition of Game
Bytes, a warning will pop up instead, preventing the image from being
displayed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
BATTLECRUISER 3000AD by 3000 A.D. Inc./Three-Sixty
Previewed by Thom Vaught
Taking your seat at the commander's console, you view the expansive void
in the bridge viewscreen. A rush of excitement overtakes you. You begin
to feel a kinship with the explorers who set sail set sail from Europe to
discover new lands. If only exploration were your task, but Gamulan
aggression requires Galactic Command's immediate attention. Exploration
will have to wait until the Gamulan threat has been extinguished. Your
primary objective is to find and destroy the Gamulan homeworld. Second to
that is maintaining law and order in your assigned sector. The ship is
yours to command. The lives of her crew and the future of Galactic
Command now rest in your hands. Confident of your ability, you command
the navigation officer to set a course for the next starbase.
BATTLECRUISER 3000AD (BC3000AD) puts you in command of an Aggressor class
battlecruiser under the united planets of Galactic Command. As commander
of a battlecruiser, your responsibilities include carrying out missions
assigned by Galactic Command, protecting your crew, protecting the planets
in your sector, and searching the galaxies for the Gamulan homeworld. You
will be commended for completing missions and punished for breaking the
law and not accomplishing mission objectives. BC3000AD promises to give
you a first hand picture of life as a battlecruiser commander. Many
rewards and discoveries await the resourceful commander and many trials
and dangers await the foolhardy.
The level of control promised by BC3000AD is very exciting. You can
control everything from hand picking your crew to configuring your on
board computer. When your battlecruiser encounters an enemy, you will be
confronted with several alternatives. You can send interceptors to attack
the ship, capture the ship in a tractor beam, fight the ship with your
battlecruiser, or deploy troops in a boarding party. With the many
options available, there is room for exploring alternative methods of
accomplishing tasks. When interceptors are launched, you may fly the
mission personally.
The on board computer is an invaluable asset. The computer will give a
vocal warning when the battlecruiser is in danger. It can be configured
to handle many tasks automatically. For example, it can handle course and
speed changes in hazardous areas. A database is kept in the computer
which can be scanned for information on various topics. There are plans
to provide the ability to control the battlecruiser with voice activated
commands. This will use speech recognition with an optional speech
module.
BC3000AD will support multi-player gaming through null/serial modem
connection or network. Multi-player games may have as many as four
players. Animation sequences will be raytrayced in Super VGA 640x480
resolution with 256 colors. 3D objects will be light-sourced with gouraud
shading. There will be over 15 alien species and over 130 planets to
explore. Many different types of friendly and enemy vessels will also be
included.
SCI-FI fans and prospective battlecruiser commanders are advised to keep
their long-range sensors attuned for this title. It may the starship game
we've all be wanting.
This preview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Thom Vaught. All rights reserved.
ERIC THE UNREADY - by Legend Entertainment/Distributed by Accolade
Previewed by Ross Erickson
I must confess, I'm not the perfect candidate to review adventure and RPG
games, but for a variety of circumstances, ERIC ended up on my machine to
preview this month. Best set of circumstances I've ever 'fell into'.
Gamers, I can sum up this game easily in one word: HILARIOUS! Bob Bates
has crafted a masterpiece here and I can safely rave all over it. The
quality of the artwork, the very mood-specific music, the very funny and
creative dialogue and conversations all make for a wonderfully hilarious
adventure.
Eric the Unready is a story of a knight who lives in the kingdom of Torus
(it's a donut-shaped world :-). Eric isn't your run-of-the-mill knight
though. Eric is more like a combination of Sir Lancelot and Inspector
Clouseau who always manages to muck things up before they are set in order
again. In the story, the King's daughter, Princess Lorealle (<g>) is
kidnapped by Queen Morgana and her lover, Sir Pectoral (can you see where
this is going?). All the knights of Torus want the blessing of the King
to go and rescue Lorealle, but Eric is given the nod by the king. So
off goes Eric on his quest to save the princess through an amazing
fantasy world. On his way to glory, he must deal with such enemies as
the "Dragon with the Moving Vunerable Spot", the dreaded Attack Turtles
(ever heard of anything like this?? ATTACK TURTLES?? :-), and of course,
the Temple of the Virgins. Eric also travels through the "No So Great
Underground Empire" (Any Zork fans out there?) to the towering Mountain
of the Gods and leaves wanton destruction in his path as he rescues the
princess.
There were times while playing ERIC that I thought I was in the middle of
Monty Python episode, yet there were other times when it went another
direction and it felt like a typical Robin Williams movie! The game is
FULL of parody and subtle humor (as well as tons of overt humor!). There
is a scene at the very beginning of the game involving a pig that had
me in stitches. Many computer game icons and characters are poked fun at
in ERIC. Even on the sales sheet "Guywood Threepbush" pays a tribute to
ERIC by saying, "More fun than a barrel of monkeys!"
The game uses the usual Legend interface with a highly stylized piece of
artwork in the top right corner, the dialogue box in the bottom right
corner, and the verbs and objects list on the left. The game also
provides the rose-compass for navigating your way through the world of
Torus. There are also some very effective and well-done cut scenes
showing Eric in different parts of his adventure. Dialogue and
conversation can take place in a new way. You can double-click on a
character and a full-screen conversation menu pops up where you can choose
what you would like to talk about or ask of the character in question.
In summary, ERIC is a must-have for any serious adventure player of any
type, and with its hilarity should draw many non-adventurers into the
genre as well. ERIC just went to duplication so should be available by
the time you read this.
This preview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Ross Erickson. All rights reserved.
LEGENDS OF VALOR by SSI
Previewed by Ross Erickson
By the time you read this, LEGENDS OF VALOR (LOV) should be shipping and
on a store shelf near you. Attempting to follow the technical lead of
the Ultima Underworld series, LOV brings full-motion graphics to an
adventure/RPG game where you are totally immersed in the smooth-scrolling,
hree-dimensional city of Mitteldorf. LOV is a single-character graphic
adventure where you must select your character and define his/her
appearance, occupation, and lifestyle. Other attributes such as strength,
memory, manipulation, health, and appeal all vary with the character's
race.
Once your character has been generated, the adventure begins. LOV offers
over 45 different quests, each with its mysteries, plots, and potential
outcomes. The game is entirely non-linear. You are free to roam and
explore the 28 square miles of town in any direction and any order. The
town is comprised of numerous shops, taverns, hostels, temples, and
guilds. The graphics of the environment are quite visually stunning.
Unlike Underworld which takes place entirely underground, much of the
game play and interaction in the city of Metteldorf takes place above
ground in the normal environment of a city. Characters will come and
go before you and you'll have the opportunity to meet and discuss (and
fight!) with many of them. I was quite impressed with the nighttime
effects of the graphics. You could literally see the sun going down
further in the sky and watch the sky change tone. The combat and action
is real-time so strategy plays less of a part of the game than does
familiarity with the game controls. The smooth motion effect is quite
good. There is no real pixelization of objects once they are up close,
though some of the NPCs look a little bizarre right up close.
All in all, adventurers and RPG'ers alike will probably like LOV. It's
certainly trying to out-Underworld Underworld. Personally, I think they
will both co-exist just fine together on the hard disk.
LEGENDS OF VALOR should be shipping now.
This preview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Ross Erickson. All rights reserved.
TONY LA RUSSA BASEBALL II by SSI
Previewed by Ross Erickson
It's difficult to categorize this article as a true preview as I've not
seen anything more than just the enclosed screen shots, but as a computer
sports buff, I thought it would be most enjoyable for all to take a look
at these screens and hear about an update to one of the most rounded of
all sports sims. TONY LA RUSSA BASEBALL 2 (TLB2) follows the very
successful TONY LA RUSSA'S ULTIMATE BASEBALL, released over a year ago,
with just about everything a computer sportsmen could ever want.
The first installment of this great sports sim offered a very good balance
of statistical detail and plenty of action on the field. If anything,
TLB2 will enhance and improve this balance even more. It's apparent,
from looking at the screens, that SSI/Beyond Software are taking direct
aim at Hardball 3 and intends to make TLB2 the reigning champion of
computer baseball (for now, at least....Hardball 4 anyone?).
Some of the exciting features to look for in TLB2 will be the new look,
256 color graphics. Comparing these screens to the original 16 color
screens shows that there is no comparison. There are very subtle improve-
ments such as greater field detail right down to the 'mow lines', wet dirt
in the base path, and much more details in the close-up views. Animation
has been highly improved too with such moves as leaps against the fence
in the warning track, head-first slides, quick pivots to turn a double
play, and underhand throws to a pitcher covering first base. Other new
features include a very detailed, large replay screen in the stadium
where you can watch critical plays over again. The sound has not been
forgotten either. Just like Al Michael's in Hardball 3, there will be an
announcer (Joe Garagiola...Tony Kubek....Tim McCarver??) calling the
play-by-play.
Statistically, TLB2 has been improved as well, with over 2500 different
stat categories to track performance at every position and every
conceivable area. For example, pitchers are rated for four specific
pitches, such as fastballs, curves, knuckleballs, forkballs, screwballs,
sliders, change-ups, and split-fingers (no, not spit-fingers!).
In the player category, over 1000 'living legend' players are included to
recreate the dream team of your choice. Also included are 11 classic
ballparks such as Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, and the old Comiskey Park
are available. Like the original, add-on disks are also going to be made
availalble. The MLBPA Expansion Disk will offer over 1,000 active players
and their likenesses to expand the ranks, plus there will be a Stadiums
Expansion Disk
as well that will feature all 28 Major League Ballparks
currently in operation. The Fantasy Manager Expansion Disk will provide
the league and drafting utilities.
Finally, other features of TLB2 will include a full season generator with
a full 162-game schedule with round-robin tournaments, play-offs, and
a World Series event. You can also choose the real-life 1990 or 1991
MLB schedule. Other realism features include double-headers, rain-outs,
accurate wind effects, left and right hand pictures (displayed properly
on the screen), and a radar gun to track pitch speeds. This game should
have it all. Given that Front Page Sports: Baseball from Dynamix is not
due to ship until late '93 or perhaps not until '94, TLB2 should reign
supreme in 1993.
TONY LA RUSSA BASEBALL II should be shipping in March of 1993.
This preview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Ross Erickson. All rights reserved.VEIL OF DARKNESS by SSI
Previewed by Ross Erickson
For players of SSI's The Summoning, VEIL OF DARKNESS (VEIL), will be a
familiar site. Developed by Event Horizon, both games share a common
top-down 3/4 approach to the adventure and the world interaction. The
demo we received of VEIL shows that a lot of time and care went into
preserving the look of The Summoning and I think that's a good thing.
The story is based around a pilot who crash-lands his cargo plane in the
haunted valley of Romania's Trasylvanian Alps in the late 1930s. Little
does our pilot hero know that the terrifying vampire, Kairn, has caused
the crash. As our protagonist awakes, he finds himself being cared for
by one of the townspeople. Kairn has been feasting himself on the
local villagers for centuries and it's now up to you to stop him or become
just another drained body in the morgue.
The graphics are quite stunning throughout VEIL and really sets the mood
properly for this horror RPG. The 3/4 overhead view gives the player a
good look at the entire playing area, plus there are well-done animated
cut scenes that take place during the game to advance the story. The
sound effects (digital) are also well-done and really enhance the mood
and feel of the action. The musical score also sets up the aura of
the game. It's very easy to interact with the characters in the game;
it's just point-and-click. The puzzles, traps, and mazes will keep you
playing for a long-time however. There's enough here to last for
many, many hours of play. I particularly liked the automapping function
plus the print-feature that allows me to print out the maps and dialogues
for reference later.
VEIL OF DARKNESS should be shipping in March.
This preview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Ross Erickson. All rights reserved.
A VIEW FROM THE EDGE
by Ross Erickson
Welcome and Happy Holidays from Game Bytes! As most gamers know, this is
an extremely busy time of the year for the gaming industry. 1992 was
certainly no exception. The number of games released from September to
December is amazing, though perhaps even more amazing are those titles
that DIDN'T make it in time to be put under the Christmas tree. Perhaps
the hall-of-fame award for this type of product should go to Strike
Commander. There were several other 'biggies' that didn't make it either.
Hordes of Star Wars fans were waiting and hoping for the imminent release
of X-Wing, while many more were waiting for games like Batman Returns,
Champions (there's your hall-of-fame vaporware game!), Conspiracy: The
Deadlock Files, Space Quest 5, Michael Jordan Flight, Buzz Aldrin's Race
Into Space, and on and on and on. Clearly, there have been enough good
games released this Christmas season (Stunt Island, Incredible Machine,
King's Quest VI, and Conquered Kingdoms come to mind..), yet it seems like
the potential megahits were delayed further and further.
As for some commentary on this, I'd like to put forth again the idea that
as we demand more and more from our games, we must also expect longer and
longer lead times with many more "unexpected delays" and shifts in release
dates. This is not to say that ALL software developers need to (or
should) "push the hardware envelope" at all times. There are a LOT of 286
machines, and increasingly, 386 machines out there that are rapidly
becoming obsolete for enjoying today's current crop of hot games. To the
developers: instead of concentrating on how to put the latest and greatest
light-sourced, gouraud-shaded graphics on your games, concentrate on THE
GAME PLAY! Don't ignore the flash, but don't include it at the expense of
the play. It also raises the level of expectations for what must be
coming next perhaps at a day and age where our current technology of
machines simply can't provide.
Christmas wishes to:
The Flight Sim crew: May your flight dynamics be true and your frame rate
exceed 30 fps! (and may Strike Commander finally ship in the first
quarter!)
The Strategy crew: May you finally find a computer opponent who keeps you
on your toes, even after the 5th play. (and may Civilization with modem
play come out!)
The Adventure crew: May your eyes becomer keener in 1993 at finding those
elusive objects to solve that final puzzle. (and may Scary Tales and 7th
Guest blow you away!)
The RPG crew: May you become the "Avatar of Virtue", even in real life.
(Ultima 8 in '93??......nahhhhhh!)
The Sports crew: May all your putts fall and all your pitches strikes.
(Perhaps '93 will be the year I can finally take Indy 500 off the hard
drive??)
The Arcade crew: May your joystick never fall apart...;-).....er....may
your joystick always be calibrated. Ah...never mind. (Here's hoping for
CD-ROM games to make a huge impact in the gaming market.)
The Puzzle crew: May your Mensa membership certificate finally arrive.
The REST OF YOU: May all your 1993 game wishes come true.....
("486's,....ON THE HOUSE!)
Ross Erickson, Editor/Publisher
Game Bytes Magazine
============== GAME BYTES ================
Editor and Publisher
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ross Erickson
Assistant Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Glen E. Cox
Programmer
~~~~~~~~~~
Ed Rafalko
Contributors
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adam Pletcher Jurgen Appelo
Lisa Erickson Kevin Schraith
Lee Beng Hai Mitch Aigner
Tom "KC" Basham Charles Daniel Carleton
David Pipes Sean Malloy
Ron Dippold Dave Merrill
Robin G. Kim David White
Sir Launcelot Du Lake Bryon Daly
Tim Clinkenpeel Carl Muckenhoupt
Thom Vaught Bill Foust
Richard Wyckoff J.A. Ollinger
Dave Masten Jer Horwitz
David Taylor Greg Stewart
Jim Knutson Brett Kottmann
Ken Fishkin Daniel J. Starr
Malcolm Diallo Moore Daniel G. Kennett
Gavin Adams Eric Neuman
Alan Fusco Marc Goldman
Doug Church Paul Neurath
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game Bytes is published monthly by Ross Erickson,
108 Castleton Drive
Harvest, AL 35749
ross@kaos.b11.ingr.com
Contents are copyright 1992 by Game Bytes,
unless otherwise indicated.
Game Bytes Rumors and News
Holiday greetings, fellow gamers. The rumors and news for this issue of
Game Bytes will be necessarily shorter than normal - C.E.S. is just around
the corner and all of the REAL news will be coming out then. Watch for a
big section (in a series) starting with Game Bytes #9. However, some pre-
C.E.S. information is starting to come out that you might find interesting
and we'll be sure to follow-up on it at the show.
Access has started to open the kimona a little and has let us know that
there will indeed be another TEX MURPHY ADVENTURE. No storyline is known
yet, but in the tradition of Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum, expect
something with plenty of speech involved. Though we're not sure whether
they are joking are not, Access has even intimated that Tex might actually
play LINKS in the adventure! Hehe. This would be cool. To top it all
off, the course played on would, of course, be a fantasy course that real
Linksters could play separately too.
For the video game crowd, Accolade has started to real pump up their
CLAWS ENCOUNTERS OF THE FURRED KIND starring Bubsy Bobcat. This is a
frontal assault on Sonic, of course, and from the look at the video they
sent to us, Bubsy could be well on his way to superstardom. This game
should be really hot. The SNES graphics were nothing short of
spectacular.
Impressions has let us know a bit about some '93 products. Expect AIR
BUCKS 1.2 to be out in mid-to-late January. For those who thought the
title was like grandma's overcooked Thanksgiving turkey, this will solve
their woes. 256 color graphics have been added with some cool animations
and zoom modes where you can see your planes flying their routes. This
will put a spark back into an otherwise semi-dull screen presentation.
Also expected from Impressions will be a WWII ADD-ON DISK FOR AIR FORCE
COMMANDER. Also, many of you should be seeing ads appearing in those
"other" magazines for CAESAR. Impressions says this is kind of a Simcity
of the Roman Empire. Impressions is also planning to release a partner-
product of sorts for Caesar. COHORT II will work in conjunction with
CAESAR and add the cool battles and strategic moves that will make this
pair a winner.
Maxis recently sent us an invitation for a private showing of their 1st
quarter products. On the list was EL FISH: THE ELECTRONIC AQUARIUM,
SIMFARM, and a new one called ROME, PATHWAY TO POWER. The first two we've
heard of, but we were caught off guard by this last one. Seems like
"doing Rome" seems like the vogue thing to do in '93.
Finally, one of the biggest piece of news items we received prior to
C.E.S. was from LucasArts Games. We all know about X-WING (and the fact
that we're sitting on thumbs waiting for it!), but CD-ROM drive owners,
rejoice! LucasArts is also busy at work on a CD-ROM-ONLY title
tentatively called STAR WARS 3D. It will feature 15 levels of fast,
smooth flying and fighting. You'll defend Tatooine against Imperial
attack, battle for the Rebel planet Hoth, and of course, take on the
Death Star itself. It's being rendered using very realistic 3-D art,
plus it will feature full-voice and full-motion video cut scenes from
the movies themselves. This will sell a LOT of CD-ROM drives!
See you after the show. Have a happy holidays!
:: Reviewer Biography ::
Adam Pletcher
Hey, this is great. How often does you get invited to talk about
yourself? :) Well, I'm 21 years old, and currently a senior at good ol'
Purdue University in scenic and glorious West Lafayette, Indiana, home of
Axl Rose and thousands of malcontent engineers. I'm majoring in Computer
Technology, having moved from CS after realizing I had a severe allergy to
calculus.
I've been gaming since the seventh grade. My first game was Deadline by
the late, great Infocom. I played it on an Apple IIe. I was so blown
away that a game could have characters that actually MOVED around the
house by themselves! Instant addiction. Nearly every spare dollar I've
earned since has gone into more games or hardware to play 'em with. A few
of my all time favorites would have to be Aztec, Starcross, Robot Odyssey
I, Haley's Project, Falcon 3.0, Indy & Fate of Atlantis, Super Tetris, any
Ultima, OotW, Speedball 2, and probably a slew more I can't think of.
I generally like puzzle/mystery games more than the hack & slash or bang-
bang shoot 'em ups. Usually, the longer and harder the game, the more
I'll like it. Been a die-hard Ultima fan since the days of Mondain.
General motif and style score more points with me than flashy graphics or
raytraced bitmapped such and such. Music and sound effects are a big deal
to me (I'd dry up and die without my SBPro!). I almost majored in Fine
Arts, so great artwork in games always gets me. Out of this World is a
great example... harsh sounds, animation, and puzzles but without using
fancy-ass graphics... now that's style. I've got broad tastes, it's kinda
hard to explain. These days I play Falcon 3.0 every day... I'm big on U7,
Wolf 3D, Stunts, OotW, Civ. I really like the idea of gaming networks
with live opponents. More challenging. We'll see a lot more of that
soon.
I do a lot of programming. I know ten or so languages, mostly self-
taught, and I do a lot of virtual reality stuff in my spare time (away
from playing games :), so that would be cool to do when I get sprung from
PU (Origin? Holobyte? You listening??). I'll end up in the gaming
industry for sure... hopefully on the bleeding edge 'til I die.
However it turns out, I sure hope my future income can fund this nasty
gaming habit I've picked up...
Name: Lonnie Barnett
City: Cincinnati, OH
Phone: 513-777-4419
Email address: INTERNET - lonnie@meaddata.com
Opponent wanted for: Perfect General, Conquered Kingdoms.
Name: Andy Van Fossen
City: Columbus, Ohio
Phone: 614-771-7233
Email address: INTERNET - andy.vanfossen@osu.edu
Opponent wanted for: Command HQ
Name: Scot Kight
City: Ames, Iowa
Phone: 515-292-8097
Modem speed: 14.4K
Email address: INTERNET - tarjan@iastate.edu
Opponent wanted for: Falcon; Battle Chess; F1GP(when available);
Perfect General
Name: Marc Paulin
City: Moncton, Nova Scotia, Canada
Phone: 506-855-4974
Modem speed: 2400
Email address: INTERNET - markus@info.umoncton.ca
Opponent wanted for: Battle Chess 1 & 2, Fire Power, 688 Attack Sub,
Populous I
Name: Steve Crawford
City: , Colorado
Phone: 303-440-5917
Modem speed: 14.4K-baud
Email address: INTERNET - smithme@spot.Colorado.EDU
Opponent wanted for: Conquered Kingdoms, Siege: Dogs of War
Name: John Gantert
City:
Phone: 410-569-0416
Modem speed: 2400
Email address: INTERNET - jgantert@nyx.cs.du.edu
Opponent wanted for: Wordtris, Super Tetris
Name: Brett Lawler
City: Hunstville, Alabama
Phone: 205-464-0651
Modem speed: 14.4K-baud
Email address: INTERNET - brett@b8.b8.ingr.com
Opponent wanted for: Falcon 3.0
Name: Andrew Argyle
City:
Phone: 514-985-2998
Modem speed: 2400
Email address: INTERNET - uunet!sobeco!paxmtl!andrew
Opponent wanted for: Command HQ
In issue #7, we incorrectly printed a review of Super Star Wars by Jer
Horwitz. The review was incorrectly published indicating the cartridge
was 9-megabits in size, when in fact, the cartridge is 8-megabits. The
responsibility for this mistake is ours, not the reviewer.
It should also be noted that the reviewers correct name is 'Jer Horwitz',
not 'Jeremy Horowitz' as we incorrectly published. Our apologies to
Jer for this mistake.
We are pleased to be able to be partners with the Software Creations BBS
system, home of the Apogee software distribution network. Through this
BBS network, we are able to have Game Bytes distributed on over 2000
BBS systems throughout North America. Dan Linton, the chief sysop of
Software Creations, welcomes new users and we would like to encourage all
who would like to be participating members in one of the best BBS systems
in the country to call and check it out. The numbers for Software
Creations are:
508-365-2359 - 2400 baud
508-368-4137 - 2400 - 16.8K-baud - US Robotics Courier HST Dual Standard
508-368-7036 - 2400 - 14.4 Kbaud - V.32bis
All new Apogee shareware releases START with Software Creations, so by
being a member of this board you'll be guaranteed to be the first to have
new releases from Apogee/ID such as the Keen series, and next year, the
incredible Doom series. Plus, you'll always find each and every issue
of Game Bytes on Software Creations first.
Call today!
I'm pleased to announce the results of the Game Bytes Game of the Year
nominations that have taken place over the past few months. I would first
like to thank all who nominated their favorite games. The response was
tremendous, and I hope even more will "turn out" and cast your vote for
these games that got nominated.
Some of the races were pretty close and others were not close at all. I
will not present the nomination count so as to not influence the final
vote. In most cases, we're going to take the top 3 titles that are
nominated, but some races were close enough to warrant a fourth entry.
The titles listed below are not in any particular order.
May I have a drum roll please...... {thank you}
In the Role-Playing category, the top four nominees are:
ULTIMA 7 - ORIGIN
DARKLANDS - MICROPROSE
ULTIMA UNDERWORLD - ORIGIN
CRUSADERS OF THE DARK SAVANT - SIR-TECH SOFTWARE
In the Sports category, the top three nominees are:
HARDBALL 3 - ACCOLADE
LINKS 386 PRO - ACCESS SOFTWARE
SUMMER CHALLENGE - ACCOLADE
In the Action/Arcade category, the top four nominees are:
WING COMMANDER 2: SPECIAL OPS MISSIONS 2 - ORIGIN
GODS - KONAMI
WOLFENSTEIN 3D- ID/APOGEE SOFTWARE
OUT OF THIS WORLD - INTERPLAY
In the Adventure category, the top four nominees are:
INDIANA JONES AND THE FATE OF ATLANTIS - LUCASARTS
STAR TREK: 25TH ANNIVERSARY - INTERPLAY
THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND II - LUCASARTS
KING'S QUEST VI: HEIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW - SIERRA ON-LINE
In the Strategy/Wargame category, the top three nominees are:
V FOR VICTORY: UTAH BEACH - THREE-SIXTY
CIVILIZATION - MICROPROSE
THEATRE OF WAR - THREE-SIXTY
In the Simulation category, the top three nominees are:
ACES OF THE PACIFIC 1.2 - DYNAMIX
FALCON 3.0D - SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE
A-TRAIN - MAXIS
In the Edutainment category, the top three nominees are:
WORD RESCUE - APOGEE SOFTWARE
ECOQUEST: IN SEARCH OF CETUS - SIERRA ON-LINE
WHERE IN THE USA IS CARMEN SANDIEGO DELUXE - BRODERBUND SOFTWARE
and finally, for Overall Best Game of 1992, the top four nominees are:
ULTIMA UNDERWORLD - ORIGIN
CIVILIZATION - MICROPROSE
FALCON 3.0 - SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE
ULTIMA 7 - ORIGIN
Please cast your ballot by emailing me, Ross Erickson, at:
INTERNET - ross@kaos.b11.ingr.com
COMPUSERVE - 71441,1537
AMERICA ON-LINE - RossGBytes
EXEC-PC BBS - Ross Erickson
or mail your ballot to:
Game Bytes Magazine
Voting Results
108 Castleton Drive
Harvest, AL 35749
Votes will only be counted once per person for one game listed above in
each category. Votes will be tallied beginning now until January 31,
1993, so please vote now, and tell all your friends to cast their ballots
too. There will be a special Game Bytes award presented to the winners
in each category as well as a certificate to each runner up.
Hope to hear from ALL of you, and as always, thanks for reading Game
Bytes!
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT GAME BYTES?
The positive response we've received from so many around the world has
given us great hope for continuing to publish Game Bytes. As you man
know, there is no income generated through any means for this publication
to continue, yet there are significant expenses, both monetarily and
time. We would like to resist changing our strategy indefinitely, but
expenses are getting tight.
If you enjoy Game Bytes and feel it is of some value to you, please
consider making a donation or contribution of some kind to our cause to
help keep Game Bytes alive. We need your assistance. Your welcome
contributions can be sent to:
Game Bytes
108 Castleton Drive
Harvest, AL 35749
In return for your donation of $15.00 or more, we'll make sure we mail you
directly the next issue of Game Bytes.
Thanks for helping us keep Game Bytes alive.
Ross Erickson
Editor and Publisher, Game Bytes
ED. - We are VERY pleased to present this (lengthy) interview with Looking
Glass Technologies, the developers of the tremendous, Ultima Underworld
series. Paul Neurath and Doug Church have been very gracious at this very
busy time for them and we want to thank them for all the time and effort
they went through to do this. Because of the length of this interview, it
will be broken into two parts. As Ultima Underworld II now hits the
shelves, you should find this most interesting reading.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Company
~~~~~~~~~~~
GB: Welcome guys! Why don't we start by giving us a little history
lesson. How did Looking Glass get started? What's the 'company history'?
Paul: Looking Glass Technologies (LGT) emerged from two computer game
development houses; Blue Sky Productions and Lerner Research. Blue Sky
created the original Ultima Underworld, and Lerner Research wrote such
hit titles as Chuck Yeager's Flight Trainer and F22. The two companies
had worked closely for some time, sharing technology and game concepts.
When it got to the stage that we were sharing staff, it was decided that
the cooperation should be formalized, and so we merged. Blue Sky
convinced the west coast based Lerner Research to move east, and we are
all now enjoying the effects of the blizzard of '92.
GB: Weren't you Blue Sky at one time? What happened to the name?
Paul: Yes, well at least half of us once went by that name. As I said
earlier, Blue Sky Productions merged with Lerner Research to form Looking
Glass Technologies, and Blue Sky was no more. We jokingly call it our
"stealth" marketing strategy, and vow to change our name every year in
order to maintain an aura of mystery.
Doug: There was also a Blue Sky Software who developed 'Hare Raising
Havoc' for Disney Software, so we wanted a unique identity from that
group as well.
GB: Tell us about how your flagship product, Ultima Underworld I got
started. What was the evolution of the Underworld engine? What were some
of the milestones you encountered? For such a small company, how did you
manage to 'scoop' the big guys?
Paul: The Underworld engine grew by spurts. The first milestone was a
1990 summer CES demo we cobbled together in 2 months to show off a
prototype. It was fast, smooth, and had true texture mapped walls,
though the ceiling and floor were flat shaded and the corridors and rooms
were all 10' high --- it looked a lot like Wolfenstein-3D in fact.
We spent the next 18 months refining the engine. We tossed out the
original 3D engine (which came from Space Rogue, an ancient game by
computer game standards) and created a new engine that would deal with
slopes and pits and the like, extended the texture mapper to floors and
ceiling, and at the last moment added a lighting model. Getting the
texture mapper to look really good proved a bear, and we never got it to
look quite as good as we had hoped (it has taken Underworld II to get
that right). So with eighteen more months we added some features and
dropped the frame rate in half. Is this evolution?
Actually, comparatively little of that time was spent on refining 3D
technologies. Most was spent working on game features, mechanics, and
world building. It is truly amazing how much effort goes into creating a
big fantasy game with its host of characters, creatures, dungeons, and so
on. In total the Underworld project took us 12 person years to complete,
and closer to a half million dollars than not. A big project by industry
standards; for our 6 person company, a huge one.
How then did we 'scoop' the big guys with Underworld? I believe it was
achieved through a potent combination of talent and focus. The
Underworld team was graced with bright and creative individuals who were
capable of rising to the challenge of the project. Consider that the
majority of the team had no prior industry experience; this was their
first game. I think that speaks worlds about their abilities.
The focus was to create the finest dungeon game, a game that was tangibly
better than any of the long line of dungeon games that came before it.
We did not have a detailed plan of how this was to be accomplished.
However, as we considered each game feature, we put it up against an
imaginary yardstick of what other games had achieved, and were not
satisfied until we found a better way. Knowing that they were aiming
high, and that Underworld was breaking new ground, the team was motivated
to excel.
Bigger companies often find it difficult to maintain a high level of
excellence from their teams. Bureaucracy, lack of focus, staff turnover,
and other distractions can dilute the best team's efforts. Size can be a
disadvantage. As LGT grows, we face the same hazards as the "big guys."
We will try to avoid these hazards by keeping the development teams self
sufficient, entrepreneurial, and always focused on crafting the best
games possible.
Doug: On Underworld, the most important thing was the dynamic creation of
the game. What I mean is that there was no set of rules which we
followed, or pre-written plan. We started with the idea of a first-
person dungeon simulation. We initially had one tile height, and all
tiles were empty or solid. We wanted chasms, though, and slopes, and
angles, so we added more tiles and heights and types.
As the game was worked on, people would suggest behaviours and systems,
and we would all try and figure out how to do it. For doors, for
instance. We naturally wanted doors that opened. We thought about and
figured out that we could just instance the door as a sub-object of the
frame, have the frame be a partial cut out of another texture map, and
then just rotate the door independently. Later, of course, we noticed
that every other dungeon game has doors that either slide up and down or
slide back and forth. The automap was initially conceived of as being
just a straightforward keep where you have been. We then made it so that
it actually mapped all things that you saw above a certain brightness.
Then the note-taking was added, and the ability to go to blank pages for
notes, and making sure you could tell where you had explored and where
you hadn't yet been.
Any idea that someone on the design team could come up with was
considered, even if only in jest. And of course, some of those jests
became reality. Smooth lighting was always mentioned as the obvious
thing to do, but probably a real pain. Same with transparencies. During
alpha some of the programmers got together and tried to hack in the
smooth lighting and it improved the look of the game immensely. The
concern was to release the best product we could, and one where we could
defend every aspect of it as something we thought was cool. It certainly
isn't perfect, but there are many elements of the game we are very proud
of.
Some obvious milestones were the first polygon rendered scene, the first
textured walls, first animating creatures, first time we had smooth
walking physics in, the beginning of terrain, the first time we could
manipulate objects in the world editor, the AI's getting activated,
conversations, doors were quite a big deal, as the dungeon seemed a
little odd without them. It was a long project, and a lot of little
steps went into making the project as a whole work together.
GB: Wow, you guys really had some amazing challenges, yet it all came
together so well. So with this new LGT company, who is directing future
development now? Who are the principles?
Paul: Ostensibly myself and Ned Lerner, the other principle in LGT. It
is my role as Creative Director to provide overall direction and focus to
our product development efforts. I am active in ferreting out new
projects and fleshing out game designs. Ned's focus is on simulations,
and in developing emerging technologies. He's usually the first one to
jump at a new texture mapping algorithm or aerodynamic modelling
technique.
However, it is the project teams themselves that provide the most
direction. They make both the day to day implementation decisions that
are critical to success, and the big picture design decisions the guide
the project through completion. Some days I just sit back and watch.
GB: How many people work at LGT now?
Paul: Today, eighteen, tomorrow, the world! Actually, we will grow
modestly over the next year to perhaps 30 people. We also enjoy working
with a half dozen or so freelancers who are spread throughout the
country.
GB: Just what exactly is the relationship between Origin and LGT? Are
you contracted exclusively to them? What about future products?
Paul: Origin (now part of the EA family) is the publisher of Ultima
Underworld and the upcoming Ultima Underworld II. We develop the games,
and Origin provides their publishing prowess and marketing muscle to help
make them hits. It works pretty well..
No, we are not contracted exclusively to Origin. We are what is known in
the industry as a freelance development group. Of course, we've never
worked with anyone else besides Origin or EA.
We currently have three projects under discussion with Origin; two which
are based on the Underworld engine, though one is not a fantasy game.
You haven't seen the last of us yet.
GB: How much of the game programming is done by LGT and how much is done
by Origin? Art, sound, 'engine', storyline, etc?
Doug: The game is developed by Looking Glass and published by Origin.
They are responsible for marketing, sales, distribution, and so on. We
have to write the game. We also work closely with Warren Spector, our
producer, who is sort of our contact/manager at Origin. On both projects
we have also had playtest done at both Origin and LGT, as well as by
several outside groups/people.
On UW2, we found ourselves behind on art, and Warren was able to co-opt
several Origin artists for us, which was essential in our having the
product done. Basically, we come up with a game, plot, and engine,
Warren looks the design over and offers suggestions, we go do it, and he
makes sure that Origin knows what we are up to, when we hope to be done,
and so on.
Again, there is no code or story developed at Origin -- it is all our
fault.
GB: Hehe. Your fault, eh? Yes, for a serious lack of sleep and
productivity around the world! What kind of budget issues face a new
developer like LGT?
Paul: Only expensive ones. Seriously, developing a competitive,
powerhouse game for today's PC market requires a lot of effort, which if
paid for, is costly. Each year, game players want more features, better
graphics, a richer game. To have a successful title, you must meet or
exceed these expectations. This can mean development budgets in excess
of $500,000 for a big FRP.
The question is, do game sales support these budgets? In many cases the
answer is no. For a publisher to break even at these costs, they must
sell at least 25,000 units. For a developer, who receives some fraction
of net revenue, the break-even can be in excess of 75,000 units. In
today's crowded market, only the top PC games sell over 75,000 units. As
a result, few freelance developers can afford to compete in today's PC
game market, and more and more publishers are having to do their own in-
house development to take up the slack.
For LGT to be successful in the PC market, we must create constantly
strong titles while keeping the budgets in line. Average selling titles
will not sustain us, nor will out-of-control budgets. As the PC market
moves forward and game players' expectations continue to rise, it remains
to be seen how developers will fare. Some have predicted doom. I'm not
so glum, but it will clearly be a challenge.
GB: For a huge project like UW2, how is the team organized? Who's in
charge of 'getting it done'?
Doug: There are many elements to getting a game done that is ready for
the current market. Once the directors and business types are done
ironing out paperwork and such, an initial concept is done by the project
leader and the creative director, and shown to the producer. Once
everyone has basically agreed on the high concept, a design team is
assembled, and the project leader is responsible for dividing the tasks
up, making schedules, and getting the team up and running.
Over the course of the project, the project leader tracks the progress of
the product, giving updates to schedules as well as changes in the
initial idea to the producer. Together, they evolve the design and
schedule in reaction to the progress made. The project leader meets with
the design team regularly, and later with both the designers and
playtesters. These meetings are forums for everyone to suggest changes
and discussion on game features, plot issues, and anything else. Although
the project leader has final authority in some sense, the goal is to have
the design team agree on a solution to each problem. Late in the
project, when bugs are being tracked, similar meetings occur to discuss
each bug, choose a fix, and assign the task. Through all of this, the
producer is informed of progress as well as problems, and with the
project leader decides what features to cut, or add, or change, based on
how the schedules look and on response from playtesters.
The goal is to make sure everyone on the design team has maximal ability
to be creative, and yet the project leader and producer can know what is
going on so they can keep a handle on what is left to be done, as well as
enforce a general cohesiveness to it.
GB: Now that Origin has been bought out by EA, what effect do you think
this will have on future potential games from LGT through Origin?
Paul: Little if any. EA is being smart by letting Origin call their own
development shots. Origin's value lies in their knowledge and ability to
create and publish sophisticated, state-of-the-art PC games. This is not
something EA wants to change. What EA will add is deeper pockets, great
distribution, and a wider base of titles and platforms. This should
benefit us as much as Origin.
Do you plan to publish your own games in the future?
Paul: We have no immediate plans to publish our own games. Publishing is
a tricky business that we would just as soon leave to the likes of EA and
Origin.
Underworld 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~
GB: Well, let's get to this fascinating new adventure about to be
unleashed upon us. Tell us about the storyline of UW2? The Abyss in UW1
is no more, so what's the general plotline behind this second installment?
Doug: Well, UW2 continues one year after the destruction of the Black
Gate in Ultima VII. While the Guardian appeared to be thwarted, he's back
wreaking havoc again, basically holding the Ultima "hall-of-fame" hostage
inside Castle Britain. The game will be out in a week, and you can hear
more about the plot then, so I will just say that you explore eight
alternate worlds, as well as doing much exploring in the castle and its
various cellars, while attempting to thwart the newest attempt by the
Guardian and those he holds power over to take over Britannia.
GB: What was the main goal for UW2?
Doug: Our goals, or your goals as a player?
GB: Your goals as a designer?
Doug: Your goals you will know soon enough, when the game is released.
Our goals were to enhance the play value and plot as much as possible, as
well as improving elements of the simulation. New texture mappers were
written, graphics were greatly enhanced with better initial art and larger
source bitmaps. The plot was made much larger and, in my mind, much more
interesting. Better and more 3-D puzzles and more action that happens in
the 3-D view was also important, with pressure plates, moving terrain, and
so on.
GB: What are the hardware requirements for the game? Disk, memory, etc?
What are the minimum realistic requirements for full detail play? 486?
Doug: A 386-33 with a fast video card does an okay job, but for full
detail and digital effects a 486 is a good thing.
GB: Will the game be single person still, or will a party join you in the
dungeons? If no party, why not?
Doug: Still a single player game. The action/motion nature of UW makes a
party very hard to deal with. Say there was a chasm of lava, and you
want to jump it, so you run and jump and make it. Your companion who you
make carry all the food jumps as well, but is carrying so much that their
top speed is too low to make the jump, and they fall in the chasm. Lots
of problems like this crop up, along with the interface issues of real
time control of the first person characters. Basically, we think that
restricting the game enough to make it a party game would ruin a lot of
the things it does well.
GB: You can pick to be a female if you want in UW2. Are there any
differences in gameplay or other areas where the difference is
noticeable? If no difference, why offer the capability?
Doug: So that if you want to play a female character you can. I don't
understand this question at all, really. All our wall textures just
serve as walls, should we just have them all say "WALL". You can pick
any character head, though the only difference is the portrait. But for a
lot of people (myself included) it is nice to have a character to
identify with as themselves. It is a role playing game.
GB: Can you transfer characters from UW1 into UW2? If no, why not? What
about bringing objects forward too?
Doug: No. We wanted to make sure the game play was as well-balanced as
possible, to challenge all sorts of players, and make sure climactic
battles were interesting, and so on. We wanted Underworld II to be the
best game it could be, and game pacing was a major part of that. To get
the pacing the way we wanted it, we had to have all characters starting
at roughly the same level. We could have imported your characters name
and drop the skills and objects, but what would be the point?
GB: Will there be a demo version of UW2 like was done with UW1?
Doug: No. There just wasn't time to build one.
GB: Will UW2 run properly with common utilities like QEMM, 386^Max,
Stacker,etc.? Doug: Well, if they are properly and stably installed, there
should be no problem. The final version of the game was built on a
machine running EMM386, Smartdrive, and Stacker, and the game runs fine
there. We have tested extensively with many popular software system
enhancements, but in the DOS world it is now impossible to test every
combination exhaustively.
GB: Has the user interface been changed or improved at all? The combat
system in the first one was a lot of "slide slide, click click".
Doug: Sorry. We chose to take a route between a numbers based combat
system and a fully arcade one. The result is that the system has role
playing elements, such as skills and such, as well as 3D collision
checking to determine what part of your foe was hit and so forth. We
think that the best part of the combat system is the ability to move and
fight at once, and attempt to gain better ground and position over your
opponents.
GB: What enhancements have been made to the UW2 engine over UW1 to make a
better game?
Doug: Here's what we included in the ORIGIN For Press Only sheet. (It's
a little "hypy," but it will give you an idea...)
o Eight new worlds to explore -- from fantastic castles to ice caverns,
towers and strange, alien realms.
o Expanded 3-D view window -- 30% larger and more panoramic than the one
in Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss.
o Larger, higher-resolution graphics for creatures and NPCs, with
additional frames of animation for smoother, more lifelike movement.
o Treacherous new terrain features, including slippery ice and dangerous
water currents designed to challenge even the most experienced game
player.
o All new, more detailed wall textures, many of them digitized, make the
world look even more realistic.
o More 3-D objects than before. Beds, chairs, tables, shelves, chests,
barrels and more allow you to walk into a room and instantly know it's
a bedroom or a dining hall or a throne room...
o Digitized sound puts you right in the dungeon. Digitized sound
effects, stereo panning and digitized speech make the Underworld
experience more realistic than ever.
o New trap and puzzle types feature animated, multi-level obstacles,
moving terrain, pressure sensitive trap triggers and more.
o Detailed, close-up portraits of scores of characters whose attitudes
and actions vary based on your decisions.
o New magical spells allow you to attack around corners with Deadly
Seeker, bowl your enemies over with Shockwave, create deadly artifacts
with Poison Weapon, and more.
o Screen save option allows you to capture any game screen -- even your
automap -- as a .GIF file.
GB: Was there any design philosophy changes from UW1 to UW2? Did you do
anything 'differently?'
Doug: The biggest advantage was that we had four full time designers on
the project, as opposed to UW1 where the programmers did much of the
world design and conversation writing. Thus, we had time and resources
to make multiple editing passes on the layout of each level, paying
special attention to the traps and resources available on it. We tried
to make sure that as you played there was always interesting stuff the
player could do, so that even if you had been somewhere before, if you
looked carefully you could discover something new. We also wanted more
puzzles and challenges (and just interesting stuff) in the 3D world.
Portcullises opening and closing, pressure plates, and so on were used
much more to make sure the game had more interactive.
GB: How big is the game compared to UW1?
Doug: I would guess it is approximately 3 or 4 times bigger, whatever
that means. Like the mystical "playing time" number, it is hard to say
on this one.
GB: Is there a possibility of any add-on modules for future Underworld
games like was done with Forge of Virtue or the mission disks for Wing
Commander?
Doug: The editor we wrote could be used to easily create some add-on
modules. However, at the moment there are no concrete plans to do a data
disk, though it is certainly being discussed.
GB: In UW1, the creatures were pretty small. In this new game, are the
creatures going to look different?
Doug: They are all 250% bigger (areawise) than in UW1. They have 1.5
times as many animation frames. They look much better. We are quite
pleased.
GB: What's new about the magic system in UW2, if any? Any new spells?
More runes?
Doug: Yeah, we now have a bunch more spells (16 or so) as well as a bunch
of magic items, including several unique magic weapons. Underworld had
about 80 magic items, this one has about twice that.
GB: Will it have more secrets? Sir Cabrius' sword was hidden well in UW1
Is the gameplay more balanced?
Doug: Well, it will have different secrets, that's for sure. There are
many puzzles which are not essential to win the game but challenging,
fun, and often rewarding. As to more balanced, we have made various
tweaks to work on it. Skills are checked more often (lots of
conversations check your Charm, Acrobat is useful on ice, Repair is very
nice, and on). Encumberance depends less on strength than it used to, so
players with low strength can still carry a reasonable amount.
GB: Is there anyway to climb up something instead of just jumping?
Doug: Nope. There would be too many puzzles which would be have been
ruined by this capability.
GB: Can you swim underwater now in addition to regular swimming? Can you
retrieve any objects under water? In the future?
Doug: No. As with outdoors, we want to do this. However, we couldn't
come up with a really cool way of doing it which we could get done for
UW2. Soon, though, soon...
GB: What type of design tools do you use to create the dungeons,
characters, generally the whole game? Did you create an 'editor' of sorts
to 'layout the game'?
Doug: Absolutely. We have an editor we use to layout the dungeons and
the objects. In fact, see the accompanying screen shot. (Press F-10 or
left mouse button). Until March of 1991 we only had an editor. The game
is written so that the editor, the playtest game, and the shipping
executable are all the same code. Various compile time flags are turned
on and off to set what gets put in (enabling and disabling various
subsystems and subeditors, allowing various cheats and cheat menus, and so
on).
The editor allows the designers to terraform and texture a level, and then
place objects in the map as they want. The object browser allows the
designer to bring up data on the current object such as quality, status,
and so on, and edit any special flags for that type of object (what spells
are on it, data on traps and timing, directions doors open, and so on).
From the editor, a single key stroke or menu choice allows you to enter
"game mode" in which you can just play the game (although you can disable
creatures, set quest flags, teleport around, and so on).
So the designer typically works in the editor to set up a particular room
or scene or trap or puzzle or conversation, saves the work, pops over to
the game, tests it, then goes back into the editor and reloads and
changes it, all within the editor. The only design task not built into
the editor is the conversation compiler, which is a standalone piece of
code.
For conversations, one writes a source file and compiles it, then goes
into an editor and creates the appropriate character, and then can go
into game mode and talk to said creature. Overall, I think the editor is
the coolest piece of software we have written, but mostly just because it
is the most complex.
GB: Will any of this game take place above ground? Why or why not? What
about full motion games that include mountains, deserts, towns, the
skies, etc?
Doug: Obviously, it would be wonderful to have a realistic 3D game with
full indoor-outdoor continuous smooth motion. I am fairly sure there are
many people attempting to solve that problem satisfactorily. However,
with UW2 we felt that we did not have time to do a really superb job of
outdoor motion (i.e., we could do no more than have a dungeon with outdoor
wallpaper) and therefore decided to keep UW2 indoors and wait until we
had time to do a really thorough job on the outdoor problem.
GB: Would you categorize UW2 as a 'harder' game than UW1? Puzzles, that
is.
Doug: There are many more 'classic' puzzles than in UW1, such as lever
puzzles, mazes, and so on. As previously mentioned, UW2 is significantly
larger than UW1, and thus there are also more puzzles to do.
GB: Is UW2 a linear game or is it more free-form in terms of exploration
and puzzle solving?
Doug: Much as in UW1, we hope players will explore a large area and come
back for things, rather than clearing each square foot as they go. In
fact, we are pretty sure that people will end up playing that way, even
if they don't start that way. The plot is of course somewhat linear, in
that certain events trigger others and so on, but at any time in the game
there are many things which the player can be working on.
GB: This is going to be (once again) a totally cool game. Hopefully, all
the bugs have been squashed (more on that later).
This interview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Game Bytes. All rights reserved.
Part 2 of the Looking Glass Technologies / Ultima Underworld 2
Interview.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Underworld 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~
GB: There were a number of devices (pulleys,secret doors, levers, etc.)
that didn't seem to do anything in UW1. Are there other red herrings in
UW2?
Doug: Probably. We are trying to simulate an interesting world full of
stuff, not just have a linear path from start to finish and give you a
prize. The world is full of odd stuff -- what can we say?
GB: Now a question many players are dying to know. Will UW1's remaining
bugs ever be fixed?
Doug: No, we are vicious beasts who like hearing about people's ruined
save games. :-)
GB: heheh!
Doug: Actually, in the two-and-a-half calendar months of playtest on UW2
we found two inventory problems which also existed in UW1. A new version
of the executable should be on the BBS's within a few weeks, after we have
verified that it hasn't created any new problems and still works.
GB: Regarding these bugs. There seems to be an annoying proliferation
of very fatal bugs that are still crawling around in some games these
days. You've said that some nasty inventory bugs in UW1 still remain,
though are being squashed. What is LGT philosophy towards testing and
verification? Do you use outside beta/play testers? Why or why not?
What steps are being taken to ensure the quality of your products?
Paul: Yes, UW1 has bugs. We tried our best during playtest to eliminate
them, but a few got through. In our defense, I would say that UW1 has
comparatively few bugs for a game of its size and complexity (no, I won't
mention other titles). Understand that UW1 is more than 10MB of code and
data, including a lot of hairy assembler; there's lots of opportunity for
things to go wrong.
We playtest our games as thoroughly and comprehensively as anyone in the
industry. UW1 went through 3 months of playtest, which at its peak had
nine full time playtesters hammering away. We made each playtester play
through the game dozens of times, often filling out ORIGIN's grueling
checklists of every feature in the game. By the time they are finished,
playtesters did not even want to look at the ads for the game.
We also use some remote beta sites to check for bugs and play balance.
Remote users offer us an objective evaluation of the game. We don't ask
them to do checklists because that would be cruel and unusual punishment.
When releasing a game like UW1, it is always a balance between holding it
for another week or two to find more bugs, or releasing it to the market.
After a while, the former becomes expensive and less fruitful as you get
down to finding only a couple of bugs a week. At the same time the game
players are asking us to do the latter. We could playtest every game for
an additional month beyond the normal playtest cycle. There would still
be bugs, though, and it would add significantly to development costs. We
try our best to reach a workable medium.
Doug: As I mentioned earlier, several bugs that were tracked down in UW2
were from the UW1 parts of the engine. They have been fixed in UW1 and a
new version will be ready and on the nets fairly soon.
Many people seem to say "If I had been a remote playtester, I would have
found the bugs." Although there were many comments of the form
"Inventory doesn't work" and also many explanations of why this was so.
However, none of these were correct about what the bug was, and all of
the bugs were found by in-house playtesters working on UW2. I don't think
the problem was lack of Beta testing, but rather that we were rather
unlucky in not managing to reproduce them in UW1. Once we heard a
significant number of comments on the inventory bugs we wrote a bunch of
code to track inventory transactions, and we then put that in UW2 so that
playtesters would know if it happened. The three bugs were found over a
six week period, with five people playing that whole time. So it isn't
as if the bugs happened every time, or that they happened to every player
no matter what.
We try to automate the testing procedure as much as possible, writing code
to render frames. For instance, 100 million frames were rendered from
various levels of the game to make sure the renderer didn't hang. We
also, as mentioned, have code to sanity check the game state in
playtesting versions of the game so that players could make sure things
were working.
With UW2, we ended up shipping much later than we wanted to because
playtesters said certain puzzles were too hard or too annoying, or that a
certain thing was hard to deal with. Also, we wanted to release the
cleanest game we possibly could, and so ended up playtesting longer than
we thought we were going to have to. We have a version that we passed
all playthroughs and feature lists, but which we are holding for a week
to have the game played by a bunch of new players, both off- and on-site,
so that we can be sure the game is both fun and bug free.
We really do try to make our games as clean as possible -- that's why
we're holding Underworld II for some extra playtesting, even though it's
already "signed-off" and the delay will cause us to miss Christmas. It's
just the right thing to do.
GB: We agree! Kill the bugs BEFORE they hit the shelves, not after. On
another topic, the beginning cinematic sequences were quite dramatic in
UW1, but the end-game sequences were less so. Why is that? Speech at the
beginning, but not at the end.
Doug: Well, we can't both take less disk space and have more speech, it
just isn't going to happen. As we figure that more players see the intro
than the endgame, we focus more on it. In UW2 we punted speech out of
both cutscenes, so that what little room we could make for digital effects
could be used for sound effects and plot-related events.
Technology
~~~~~~~~~~
GB: Let's move on to some general technology observations of yours.
What's your take on 'virtual reality'? It's been a widely abused
term. There have been several rumors of the Ultima series going 'VR'
soon with gloves/goggles etc. What are your feelings about LGT products
in this area?
Paul: Abused yes, but VR is still cool. In my mind, the goal is total
immersion to the point that you can't readily differentiate reality from
VR. The Holodeck on Star Trek: the Next Generation is a perfect example.
Today VR researchers are using gloves, goggles, and other hardware to
achieve immersion, and it does not quite work. The hardware is still too
slow, too low resolution, too clunky to really pull it off. That may
change soon, and in the meantime the VR equipment is still fun to play
with, if not perfect.
Like any other game developers who still have blood pumping through their
veins, we'd like to get into VR. In a sense our 3D simulations already
do some VR. While we don't support special hardware, we do try to
immerse the player in a world simulated on the computer. For instance,
the real time texture mapping we use is similar to the technology used in
SGI's Reality Engine. When the hardware matures, we will be ready.
Doug: The abuse of the term doesn't diminish the value of true VR.
Similarly, the fact that a product attempts to use some of the techniques
of VR without having real telepresence doesn't make it pointless. VR is
still a young field, and as with all other scientific endeavors, there are
good reasons to hope that the technology will continue to get more and
more impressive. Whether it will really have any impact on the
lifestyles of the mythical "normal" people is yet to be seen, but it is
clearly an important, evolving field, and as with many evolving technical
fields, expect to see some of the early work's first applications show up
in games.
GB: 320x200 resolution games are looking kind of crappy next to SVGA
games. Will LGT be supporting SVGA (640x480) resolution games in the
future? What is needed, technically speaking, to support a high-res game?
Paul: Our exotic sports car simulator, Car & Driver, already supports
SVGA. Admittedly the highest resolution (640x480) is only used for title
and menu screens, but we do use 320x400 (a non-standard SVGA mode) within
the game, which looks pretty good.
Technically, it is fairly easy to support SVGA modes. There are a lot of
variant hardware cards on the market that are slightly incompatible, but
it's all very do-able. The issue is speed and storage. Today's SVGA
cards just can't support 10 frames per second animation at 640x480
resolution. And an image at this resolution can require up to 4 times
the storage of standard VGA. Until CD-ROM becomes a standard, you're not
going to see a lot of SVGA graphics in a game.
Doug: Until local bus or coprocessed (ie. TI34020 type) video is widely
available, games that render a 640x480 scene will not be very common. In
a typical rendered game, over half of the time is spent simply placing
pixels in video memory. Until that operation can be parallelized or
radically sped up multi-hundred MHz processors) there is no way around
this bottleneck, it is a "feature" of the lovely late 70's bus
architecture found in the IBM PC which is still in 486-50's we buy today.
GB: Is your texture mapping done on the fly? What part of the scene is
computed on the fly and what part is precomputed?
Doug: I'm not sure what you mean by precomputed. The textures are
predrawn as flat unlit bitmaps, and the creatures as flat unlit sets of
animating frames. Each actual scene is rendered completely on the fly,
with a combination of various texture mappers, scalers, shaders, and so
on. If you have an idea for precomputing it, please share...
GB: Poor choice of words on our part. Pre-drawn or pre-generated is what
we meant. Have you considered the use of alternate input devices for more
sophisticated character actions?
Doug: In a work on the ultimate cyberspace playhouse, the author
suggested 22 input devices. Although we would love to support gloves and
data wands and head-mounted trackers and foot monitoring systems, no
users have them. R&D for that sort of thing costs real money, and as a
game company on tight margins, we can't afford to support anything that a
significant number of customers won't be able to enjoy. If someone wants
to give us money to do a VR box, things would change a bunch. Until
then, we will be sticking to commonly available hardware.
GB: What's your feeling about the OS wars going on now? Have you
considered programming for a 32-bit OS like OS/2, NT, Solaris for PCs,
NextStep, UNIX for PCs, etc? With the DOS limit of 640K, are you forced
to do something different soon? How are you planning on getting around
these limitations?
Paul: Not seriously. OS/2 has some real strong features, but it, like
the other OS you mentioned, are not mainstream enough for games.
We have already addressed the 640k limit by going to protected mode. All
of our future PC games will require a 386 or 486 with at least 4MB RAM.
We don't like having to abandon the 286 audience, but the 640k barrier is
really problematic. It was a choice of holding onto 1986 technology or
letting our games grow. The only consolation I can give to 286 owners is
that 386s prices have come way down (but spring for a 486 if you can
afford to).
Doug: As a UNIX hacker, I'd love to be able to say we were thinking of
UNIX or other real OS games. As someone who is in the industry, and
knows where things sell and where they don't, I have to admit that in the
current market we would just be throwing money away if we developed for
them.
GB: Technically speaking, where do our machines need to be soon to break
through to new levels of gaming? What's on the horizon (in your crystal
ball) and what types of hardware/software advances are you advocating for
better gaming?
Paul: Let me polish my crystal ball some. There, I see a 6502 in your
future! Seriously, I look forward to the following milestones reaching
the mass market: (1) more storage, such as CD-ROMs, (2) at least 4MB RAM,
(3) 486-33MHz or faster processor, (4) a SVGA card that is actually fast,
(5) an inexpensive sound card (>$100) that does everything the best sound
cards do today. Once this level of hardware reaches the masses, we will
be able to really push the technology.
The software advances will come mostly from the computer game design
community. In the perpetual quest to outdo each other, designs and
software technology will improve. I predict that this advance in
software will ultimately be more impressive than advances in hardware
(though I'd still like that fast SVGA card).
Doug: The limitations of the PC Bus are fairly serious. It will be
possible to do more and more impressive cutscenes and canned sequences
with bigger drives and faster machines, but rendering really requires
changing almost every pixel every frame, and that means better I/O. CD
ROM is essential to get full speech and large libraries of source
material. A sound card with a real on board synthesizer (i.e., LAPC-1
like) as well as a few clean digital channels with stereo that doesn't
cost too much is also essential. Finally, a fast processor, and, as I
said, coprocessed video would really make it possible to move to a whole
new level of intensity. For now, CD and such will allow better
cinematics, and more speech, but offer less than we might hope for the
look of the next generation of flight simulators and other "reality"
simulators.
GB: What about networked or multi-player games? Over the modem? Are
these types of products in the works?
Paul: Multi-player games are the future. The question is, when will they
reach the masses. Gamers can now enjoy networked games over a variety of
services. However, they can be expensive to play, many of the games are
not up to retail shelf standards, and of course you need a modem.
Therefore the audience is more limited than for stand-alone games. This
makes it difficult for development groups like ourselves to justify the
cost of a multi-player game. I hope this will change.
Doug: Hey, Pong is a great game, because it is two player. X-Windows has
some brilliant games because it allows many players to interact in many
ways in the same "world." Hopefully soon the mainstream game market will
have the equipment for this sort of thing to run and be widely used.
GB: Will you be supporting new sound cards in the future like the Gravis
Ultrasound that can do wave table synthesis? What about other sound
devices?
Doug: For UW2 we used a modified ('souped up?') version of the UW1
engine. We didn't rewrite the music system, the only change was adding
digital effects for SoundBlasters. With our next round of releases we
plan to support all the new sound cards, but not for UW2. Sorry...
GB: What's your direction for CD-ROM games? What's needed and what's in
store?
Paul: I think it's clockwise. Already some of our titles are out on
shovelware. The next step is dedicated development for CD-ROM.
Surprisingly, one of the issues we've faced is storage. Some of our
designs actually call for 2+ disks: once you have a lot of storage, you
design things on a whole new scale. Suddenly the 600MB looks small. As
always, software engineers will use up all available resources.
Doug: As Paul hinted, we have some new designs which are specifically for
CD-ROM. Will we do them? It depends on the market, where we can
get
contracts, and what we want to do. But it is clearly true that the CD-
ROM platform presents a whole new set of possibilities and problems, cool
features and annoying limitations. Once enough market shows itself and
high-end design houses start taking CD-ROM seriously enough to put top
design and coding talent on the platform for original projects, I'm sure
that I don't know what will happen but it will be impressive.
GB: What type of rendering engine did you create to do the smooth motion?
Doug: It's actually a 3D language, which supports a whole slew of 3D
primitives. We simply compile a set of instructions on the fly each
frame and then call the 3D interpreter to run them. As with any 3D
system, you can set eye coordinates, rotate frames of reference, place
points, connect sets of points with various fills (shades, flat polygons,
textures, lit textures, translucencies, whatever). There are also bitmap
scalers and other primitives, such as object instantiation primitives, so
you can decide to render a table at 30 degrees from normal or what have
you. Basically, a clipper takes the map data and decides which
objects/walls you can see after the clipping pass is done, and as it does
so writes them to the database, and then calls the renderer.
GB: Oh yeah.....I knew that...! Um.... What type of programming language
is used for both UW1 and UW2?
Doug: Underworld II is 2.2 Mb of C, 2MB of Assembler, and about 800K of
conversation code (an internal language which we wrote a compiler for, as
well, of course, as an interpreter for running them in the game). The
support code for various tools (the conversation compiler, the packers and
archivers, picture and animation conversions, and so forth) is about
another 1MB of C. Underworld I is similar, though probably only about
70% as big. Second project syndrome definitely hit UW2.
GB: What's your feelings about other types of "motion" games like
"Legends of Valor" and "Wolfenstein 3D"? Have you heard about "Doom" from
ID? Just general reaction?
Paul: The ID games are great. Wolfenstein 3D is intense, with lots of
action. I've only heard rumors about Doom so I can't really comment. I
saw the ad for Legends of Valor wherein it said "Ultima Underworld, move
over" and compare it to Underworld. As they say, imitation is the
sincerest form of flattery, but they are lagging the target. Underworld
II is a significant step up from the original and includes all kinds of
enhancements.
Doug: The ID games, as Paul says, are indeed very cool. The action and
pacing in Wolfenstein are very well done. Not only is the technology
cool, but the game design works with the technology very well to create a
very playable game. I haven't gotten to play Legends yet, but I was sort
of disappointed that they start by saying "Ultima Underworld, move over."
First of all, when you a design a game you should just do what you think
is cool, not try and compete with some other product. Secondly,
Underworld came out in March of 1992, and as such seems like a silly thing
to be trying to do again.
Overall, "motion" games are fine. I'm a game designer because I think
games are very cool. Whatever the genre, it is always nice to find a
game one enjoys playing or is impressed by, because it makes it more fun
to be in the industry. When you see a neat new game, it is exciting.
I am often asked "How do you feel about Wolfenstein" or "Is Underworld
better than Wolfenstein." I usually answer that they are different, and
both seem really cool to me. I have never heard anyone complain that
they wish only one of them existed, or that the existence of both is
ruining their life. As far as I can tell, both games are well liked and
well played, which is cool. Some people seem to feel that the two have
to be at war, or judged, but frankly I think both companies are doing good
jobs at writing cool games, and hopefully most people are just happy to be
able to play one or both.
GB: Will we get to a point soon when full digitized speech is available
throughout the game? It would add a lot to the game.
Paul: I believe there are already CD-ROM games with fully digitized
speech. This is a strong feature, and hope it soon becomes a standard.
Speech recognition tied to an intelligent parser would be even better,
but don't hold your breath on that one.
Doug: I wouldn't expect to see full speech in a non-CD product any time
soon. As to CD's, see my remarks above. Obviously it would be a great
way to immerse players in the game.
General
~~~~~~~
GB: What new titles are you working on now beyond Underworld II?
Paul: A variety of titles including two flight simulators and a science
fiction game. Likely as not, there will be a follow-up to Underworld II
as well.
GB: Will Underworld technology be used in future Ultima series (Serpent
Isle, 8:Pagan, 9:Ascension) games?
Paul: Serpent Isle is almost complete and has made no use of our
technology. Pagan is underway, and also does not share our technology.
Perhaps U9 will make use of our code; though that project will not start
for some time.
Doug: As earlier mentioned, LGT and Origin share no code. Thus, the
exact technology will not be used. However, obviously texture mapping
and first-person rendering are not our invention. As you no doubt know,
many games that will soon be coming out have this sort of rendering.
GB: What do you think about the electronic 'on-line' community as opposed
to the traditional gaming magazine approach? Are you trying to reach and
hear from more on-line customers? Does Game Bytes fill any of your needs?
Paul: On-line services are a great forum for game players, with immediacy
and interaction that print magazines can't match. We always get first
reactions about our games on-line, including lots of useful feedback.
Magazines, being more formal and having lower bandwidth, tend to filter
out a lot of feedback. You only get the opinion of a handful of
reviewers. While these reviews can be insightful, they sometimes lack
the wider perspective available on-line.
Doug: The best thing about the on-line community is that feedback is much
faster, and comes from more players and less professionals.
GB: Recently, it seems like more and more games are going for more flash
and graphics, seemingly at the expense of gameplay and true game value.
What are your thoughts on this as it relates to your own products? The
UW combat model, for example, could use some fine tuning, where specific
strategic and tactical plans could be initiated to target a specific body
area. These could involve specific areas like inflicting a special type
of wound, or a broken bone? Your thoughts about combat?
Paul: Good question. Yes, there is a definite emphasis on flash and
graphics -- production values if you will. Why? Because it sells games.
Most people want flash in their games: VGA over EGA, animation over
static, 3D over 2D. Is this bad? Not in and of itself. However, if game
design is sacrificed for flash, the players lose. We try to do both
well.
As for UW1 combat, the early development plan called for a more
sophisticated combat system that would feature a variety of attack styles,
different damage for each hit location, and other details. However, we
found that the extra options tended to make the user interface cumbersome,
and that many playtesters did not appreciate the details behind the combat
mechanics. Therefore it was scaled back in detail. In this case, it had
nothing to do with flash.
Doug: The gameplay of Underworld is dependent on an enjoyment of quick
responsive interaction. We didn't want a combat system in which you
initiated attacks into special zones and stuff, we wanted a fast, simple
combat model which would appeal to people who didn't want a 12 stage
combat system. We attempted to merge elements of traditional role
playing, simulation, and dungeon combat adventures. We did not attempt
to remove "real game value" and "gameplay," we tried to make the game
appealing to players who did not want to have huge reams of statistics and
complicated commands for interacting with the game.
GB: What other types of games could be developed using the Underworld
engine?
Paul: Anything but Chutes and Ladders.
GB: <GG>!
Doug: Well, any you can think of and can convince us would be cool, I
would guess. However, next to the huge list of new features we want to
implement is a huge list of games we would do once we had the features,
so there is a queue.
GB: Will there be an Underworld III, IV, V, etc?
Paul: If Underworld II is received as well as the original, I'd lay odds
on an Underworld III.
GB: For someone wanting to break into computer gaming, what advice would
you give them?
Paul: Escape while you can! Seriously, I would start by playing the best
games out there, and trying to understand what makes them work. The next
step would depend on one's skills. Today's games require the skills of
project leaders, programmers, artists, writers, designers, and musicians.
I would make sure that I had expertise in at least one of these fields,
and could make a unique contribution. A warning: writing computer games
is challenging and hard work (yes, it's fun too). Success in this
industry usually comes from being bright, motivated, creative, and willing
to work long hours. If I have not scared you off yet, you might want to
send your resume to LGT; we are looking for strong candidates.
Doug: Be really psyched, be in the industry because you want to produce
games which other people will be into, because when you are working 80+
hour weeks for a few months to meet a deadline on a game, you have to
believe in it and enjoy it to make it through.
GB: What other computer games do you guys like to play? Are there other
favorite games you enjoy? What games do you think are pretty hot?)
Doug: Sonic and NHLPA '93 on the Sega are big hits. We have a ping pong
table at work which is very popular, as well as a Robotron machine for
some good, mindless entertainment. We take a brief look at most new
titles, and every so often one catches someone's fancy and they play it
for a while. The demo for The Incredible Machine impressed everyone a
great deal, but we are resisting playing with it until we actually get
this Underworld II thing done.
GB: Guys, I can't tell you how great it's been to be able to talk with
you and get your insight into so many things. Underworld 1 was a landmark
game, and there seems little doubt that Underworld 2 will be just as
tremendous, if not more so. Good luck with your release and stay in touch
with your new developments. Thanks once again for a great interview.
This interview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Game Bytes. All rights reserved.
From: Tom "KC" Basham
AT&T Bell Laboratories: bash@ihlpb.ATT.COM
CompuServe: 73760.1251
To: All Falcon 3.0 pilots
All falcon 3.0 pilots interested in forming squadrons and competing in
nationwide H2H contests read on:
Mike Drake, in conjunction with several fighter pilots (including Bonanni)
is trying to form a nationwide network of F3 pilots, organized in
squadrons, to compete in regular H2H battles.
I don't have all the details, but from what I understand, all squadrons
will be formed and administrated according to exact Air Force procedures
and Jargon. Activities would include intra-squad trainging H2H hops and
inter-squad competitions. Mike is trying to form the largest pool of
people possible to generate the most fun. Mike is looking for both willing
pilots and squadron COs.
If you're at all interested, give Mike a call. He has set up an 800 number
to promote this thing at 1-800-AIR-ACES (247-2237). This number routes to
his home, so you will get his personal answer machine. Just tell him that
you read the post from KC Basham on CIS and want more info. He'll call you
back with details. As far as I know, there's no $$ associated, this is
just to get people together to have fun.
Mike is currently a regional coordinator for the SIMCAP/Intercept Magazine
F3 competition. Mike is also hoping to provide network play on BBS
systems. He asked me to help spread the word. Whether your interested or
not, please refer this message to any/all other F3 pilots you may know.
The larger the pilot base, the more flying we can get in.
TACTICS AND TIPS FOR DYNAMIX' ACES OF THE PACIFIC - Air Attack
by Robin G. Kim
ACES OF THE PACIFIC is a rich simulation, with lots of variety and many
subtleties built into it. This article outlines many of the tactics I've
developed over countless hours spent playing the game. It is by no means
exhaustive, but hopefully the reader will be able to pick up a few tips
that will enhance his or her enjoyment of one of the finest air combat
simulations on the market. My comments apply specifically to the latest
version of the game (patch B), with all the difficulty settings at their
hardest.
This is the first of a two part series. This part deals with air-to-air
combat. Part two talks about air-to-ground combat and will appear in a
subsequent edition of Game Bytes.
AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING
Although the computer pilots in ACES OF THE PACIFIC are among the best
around, they have certain predictable characteristics that can, under the
right circumstances, be exploited to gain advantage. First, we need a few
definitions. "Angles tactics" is what springs to most people's minds when
they think of dogfighting. The goal of angles tactics is basically to get
on the enemy's six o'clock and stay there until you can shoot him down.
This strategy favors light, maneuverable aircraft such as the Zero, Oscar,
and Frank.
"Energy tactics" are not as well understood by most people. Here, the
goal is to gain a large enough energy advantage over your opponent that
you can attack him with impunity. An aircraft's total energy is the sum
of its kinetic energy (airspeed) plus its potential energy (altitude).
This sounds complicated, but merely reflects the ability of an airplane to
trade airspeed for altitude and vice versa. Energy tactics involve
conserving your speed and altitude (energy), while convincing your
opponent to bleed off his energy. Once you have enough of an advantage,
you can pull into a zoom climb without risk of being fired upon, then pull
through into a diving attack on your opponent while he has too little
energy to defend against you. This strategy favors fast, heavy aircraft.
Most the American fighters fall into this category, and fast Japanese
fighters like the Frank can also use energy tactics to good advantage.
The AI of the computer pilots in ACES OF THE PACIFIC is actually good
enough to incorporate both these tactics. Zero pilots will wheel around
quickly to get on your tail, while Corsair pilots will climb away, then
return with a "whistling death" attack from above. I will now discuss how
to recognize what the computer pilot is trying to do, so you can decide
how to counter it. Descriptions and evaluations of the many possible
basic fighter maneuvers is beyond the scope of this article.
The computer pilots love head-on attacks, and they're _very_ good at them.
So good, in fact, that I try never to trade shots this way. Even if
you're flying a rugged plane like a P-47 or P-38, you could take enough
damage to your engine(s) that you'll be hopelessly vulnerable in the
ensuing melee, without enough top speed to escape if it should become
necessary.
The first step to avoiding a head-on attack is to detect it. Point your
nose directly at the enemy plane. If it shows no relative motion over a
few seconds, it has you targeted, and you should begin a guns defense
maneuver. This involves first pointing your nose away from the enemy
plane, then basically doing a barrel roll around the velocity vector of
your opponent's plane. Timing is important here. If you begin too late,
you'll already be damaged. If you start too early, you'll bleed precious
energy for no reason. This defensive maneuver is not infallible, but will
at least minimize the damage you will take.
If you can determine that no enemy planes have targeted you on the initial
approach, you should pick one bandit as your victim, center him in your
crosshairs, roll your plane so that his direction of relative motion is
upwards (so you just have to pull back on the stick to track him), adjust
your lead, and fire away. Your firing window is small because of the high
closure rate, but you should try for a shot, as this is an excellent
opportunity to tilt the odds a notch in your favor.
When the computer pilot is using angles tactics, he will perform a break
turn right after the initial pass to get on your tail, unless he is going
for one of your wingmen. This bleeds off lots of his airspeed, so if you
decide to use energy tactics and have not bled too much speed yourself
while turning into the attack for the initial pass, you will already have
sufficient energy to go into your zoom climb. From then on, just do a
series of high speed diving attacks on targets of opportunity until all
opponents have been shot down. Unless you make mistakes, or are seriously
outnumbered, your opponents will never get any chances to fire at you.
The keys to success when using energy tactics are:
1) Pull out of your diving attack far enough away from the target that
you can avoid a mid-air collision. It is preferable to pull away in
a direction other than the direction of the target's relative motion,
so roll away before you pull out. Collisions are by far the biggest
hazard in using energy tactics.
2) Never pull too hard on the stick unless you have an extremely high
energy advantage, or you will bleed too much airspeed and become
vulnerable to attack. If you can't line up a shot during a pass,
don't get impatient and force one. Just zoom climb back up and try
again. Also, pull out of your diving pass gradually, with no more
than half pressure on the joystick.
3) If you see two enemy planes heading in the same direction, always
target the rearmost, or the trailer may get a shot at you.
Otherwise, go for the plane that requires less maneuvering to line
up. This advice applies equally well when using angles tactics.
4) Always zoom climb after every pass to such an altitude that you
cannot be fired upon. This is important, as you will be going fairly
slowly at the top of the climb, making you an easy target for any
bandit in range.
5) Once you pick a target, roll your wings so that you only have to pull
straight back on the stick to follow the enemy plane's relative
motion. If this direction of relative motion changes, roll your
plane to keep your gunsight just ahead of him in the direction he's
moving. This is applies to angles tactics as well, but is especially
important when using energy tactics, since the diving attack gives
you very little time to even fire your guns, much less adjust your
aim.
6) Never make any long level turns. Besides vertical maneuvering, your
only adjustments should be small corrections to line up your shots.
Level or near-level turns allow even slower enemy planes to cut
across the arc of your path and attack you. The only exception to
this rule is if you are certain that there is only one bandit in
your general area.
If your opponent dives or climbs away after the initial pass, he is using
energy tactics, and odds are you are in a plane best suited for angles
tactics. Don't turn too hard after the initial pass, since you need
airspeed to be able to chase the your opponents down. If you see any
that aren't running away and were foolish enough to turn after the first
pass, go after them. Heavy, unmaneuverable fighters like the P-40 and
F4U-1 lose airspeed very quickly when they turn, and should be pounced
upon and taken out quickly before they can dive away. If all the bandits
have decided to gain separation, you will have to endure another head-on
pass upon reengaging, unless you have a sizable speed advantage and can
overtake them.
AERIAL GUNNERY
The gunnery modeling in ACES OF THE PACIFIC is better than any other air
combat simulation I've heard of. It not only accounts for mixed weapon
types and ammunition loads, it also figures in cyclic rates of fire,
muzzle velocity, and weapon placement! In this section, I will discuss
how to make optimal use of the various gun configurations.
The plane with the most effective armament is undoubtedly the P-38
Lightning. A P-38 is equipped with four 50 caliber machine guns and a
20mm cannon, all mounted in the nose. It is superior to all other planes
in the game for the following reasons:
1) Lots of ammunition for both the guns and the cannon. Allows you to
take those low-percentage long range deflection shots without fear of
running out of ammo.
2) For most of the Japanese planes the P-38 will fly against, its
machine guns are enough to do serious damage, while the cannon will
make short work of anything, including a heavy bomber. Japanese
planes such as the Frank have more absolute firepower than the
Lightning, but its targets are often so heavily armored that it
ends up taking more shots to bring them down (the fragile P-51 is an
exception).
3) The weapons are all mounted in the nose. It took a long time for me
to realize the significance of this. Rounds fired from wing-mounted
guns and cannons will not always hit a target that's right in the
center of your gunsight, because the simulation actually follows the
trajectory of the rounds to see if it hits the target. This means
that the bullets from one wing may hit a target while the bullets
from the other all miss. If firing at a bandit from directly behind
from a close enough range, it's possible for ALL your bullets to miss
as they pass on either side of the target! This is very frustrating.
With nose-mounted weapons, if anything hits, everything hits. This
concentrated firepower makes the four machine guns on the P-38
comparable to the eight machine guns on a P-47 for small targets at
close range.
4) P-38s can carry rockets. Though primarily intended for ground
attack, rockets are extremely effective against non-maneuvering
targets at close range, such as heavy bombers and fighters which
pull up into a stall in an attempt to make you overshoot. One
rocket salvo will destroy any airplane.
For planes with both guns and cannons, it is useful to use the machine
guns to judge the lead for the cannons. Once the bullets start hitting,
open up with the shells as well. Guns can also be used for low percentage
shots, which may not destroy the target, but could damage it enough to
make it an easier target later.
Although the 7.7mm machine guns on Zeros and Nates may seem completely
useless, they are actually effective against slow, unmaneuverable targets.
It may take about 200 rounds to take down the target, but the rate of fire
is very high, and the muzzle velocity is so great that you don't need to
factor in much lead when firing.
The relative attitude of your target can often have a large effect on how
much ammunition must be expended to get a kill. This is due to variations
in the size and shape of the cross-sectional area the target presents, in
conjunction with the placement of the firing platform's weapons, as
described above. A graphic example of the effects of the firing plane's
weapon configuration is the case of a Zero following right behind a non-
maneuvering P-40 Warhawk (less-skilled P-40 pilots often fly in a straight
line while trying to get away, so this is not an unrealistic example),
with the P-40 squarely in the Zero's sights. Firing 7.7mm machine guns
only will result in an unbroken stream of hits. Switch to the 20mm
cannons, however, and you will discover that all your shots will miss! If
you slip your plane from side to side a bit with the rudder, blipping the
fire button when you're aiming a bit to the right before your left cannon
fires and a little to the left when your right cannon fires, then you will
score hits. Needless to say, this is a rather slow and cumbersome
process!
It is not clear whether or not actual hit location makes any difference in
determining how much damage a plane can take, and how likely it is to
explode when hit. In any event, my experience has been that firing from
directly behind a plane requires more rounds to get a kill than from any
other direction. This is ironic in that one of the main goals of angles
tactics is to get to the opponent's six o'clock position, but once you're
there, you find yourself in a bad firing position! The preferable
alternative is to let the target generate some deflection before opening
fire, or switching to a different target that already presents you with a
medium to high deflection shot. Deflection shooting takes a lot of
practice, and is made even more difficult because lead calculation varies
with the muzzle velocity of the weapon used. It's main advantage is that
it offers a much larger target for your guns, allowing more of your shots
to hit, especially for wing-mounted weapons. Once mastered, it is by far
the quickest and most economical way to score victories.
This article is Copyright (C) 1992 by Robin G. Kim. All rights reserved.
ULTIMA: THE AVATAR ADVENTURES
Authors: Rusel DeMaria & Caroline Spector
Publisher: Prima Publishing
Reviewed by Sir Launcelot Du Lake
Ever read a textbook-sized novel? Well, that is essentially what Ultima:
The Avatar Adventures is. More than three-quarters of this 400 plus page
book is the novelization of the three episodes that make up the Age of the
Avatar. The rest consists of "down-and-dirty" quick walkthroughs and
detailed maps of towns, castles, and dungeons. Near the end of the book
are two bonus sections on the first part of Ultima VII: The Black Gate and
the first two levels of Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. The book
concludes with the transcript of Caroline Spector's interview with Richard
Garriott.
The detailed maps and quick walkthroughs make this a solid source for
hints. I wouldn't advise looking for hints in the story sections,
although the use of a different font for keywords that must be said to
NPCs makes this a little easier. Go straight to the walkthroughs if you
need specific hints.
The novelization is presented in the form of two historians of Britannia,
Dr Carlotta Stein and Dr Robert DeMain, going through a diary alleged to
be the Avatar's. Belief in the Avatar is on the wane since he has not
been seen for two centuries, so his existence is a strongly debated issue
among the academics. Stein is a believer, while DeMain remains a skeptic.
Those of you bothered to go through all the books found in Ultima VII will
probably come across references to these two and their book. It is very
heartening to see the effort made in maintaining continuity and
consistency in the fiction surrounding all Ultima products. I think this
factor has probably helped immensely in the suspension of disbelief when
in the Ultima universe, and goes a long way to make this a great series.
The first-person singular is used for the Avatar, and all his companions
refer to him as Avatar, if needed, and not his real name (undoubtedly done
to accommodate the thousands out there who would claim Avatarhood *grin*).
Chapters are presented as entries, befitting the theme of the Avatar's
diary.
How good is the novelization? I must admit that there were times when I
felt it was becoming a bit of a drag. After all, the Ultima games
involved a lot of traveling back and forth, and putting this simply on
paper would eventually render it nothing more than a travelogue. DeMaria
and Spector, though, did create some new twists and events into the
storyline that kept the reader's interest. I will briefly describe some
of these factors in the next few sections.
The Way of the Avatar
This is, in my opinion, the best story of the lot. Here, it is quite
hilarious to see how the Avatar copes with his unexpected sojourn into a
foreign land with very strange people (from his modern world perspective).
He is described as thinking that Britainnians have a habit of being abrupt
in their conversations. Indeed, how many times have we engaged
Britainnians in an absorbing dialogue only to be suddenly informed "I
cannot help thee with that" repetitively? The authors literally pulled in
the computer-coded conversations into the stories, and to quite good
effect!
The best part is undoubtedly the growing romance between the Avatar and
Jaana, his first companion. In a poignant scene on the beach off the
island of Skara Brae, the Avatar saves Jaana from death at the hands of
orcs in a pitched battle. Jaana was shaken by the close brush with death,
and the Avatar comforted her. While holding her, he looked at her golden
hair and lovely face, and, well, ALMOST kissed her, almost! No, you will
have to read it if you want to know what happens after **wicked grin**.
The Avatar's acquaintance with the rest of the companions is also built up
here, as well as the clashes between some of them. Jaana and Geoffrey,
for example, didn't get along. Jaana thought Geoffrey was a big lummox
with all brawn and no brains, while he thought she was too small to be of
use in battle.
Warriors of Destiny
This was a little dark, following the theme set in Ultima V. Issues
pertaining to whether the ends justifies the means were explored
throughout. Also developed was the growing friendship and bantering
between the Avatar and his closest companions Iolo, Shamino, and Dupre.
The romance with Jaana grows. On a ship to the Avatar Isle, Jaana
suggested that there may be more for them if they survived this quest,
although they also pledged that at the moment, the quest came first.
The False Prophet
The storyline fizzles a bit here, and becomes more like the travelogue I
described. One amusing moment, though, was when Lord British kept
insisting on giving his castle keys to the Avatar (who kept throwing them
away as the gates were already opened). This was in line with the
computer game mechanics which ensured that you always have the castle
keys. Jaana, surprisingly, did not join the party at all this time. In
fact, there was no mention of her at all. Neither did the Avatar wonder
where she was. No, she wasn't at Yew, though in the CRPG she was. This
was obviously to make way for Jaana's subsequent attraction to the mayor
of Cove and the Avatar's new love interest in Nastassia in Ultima VII. The
long-distance (pan-dimensional, really) relationship apparently couldn't
last.
The Black Gate and The Stygian Abyss
Here, the story placed our two historians finally meeting up with the
stranger who called himself the Avatar in the Emerald at Cove. The entire
setting was placed right in the middle of the events of Ultima VII itself.
The Avatar and his companions were resting and getting ready to set off
for Minoc. The Avatar talks about the events that have occurred since his
arrival in Trinsic. There are many interesting hints here. Who would have
thought that hitting the parrot in Spark's house on the head with a hammer
would cause it to reveal the location of a treasure? No, the Avatar didn't
hit the bird, Spark did. Yes, Jaana returns here and joins the party, and
the Avatar did mention to Dr Stein that they were once... well, you know.
But he's happy for her *sigh*. He also has a faraway look when Nastassia
was mentioned *grin*. The Avatar also talks about when he actually DID
return once in the past two centuries, and the subsequent rumours of his
conquest of the Stygian Abyss. He only had time to talk about the first
two levels, though.
A Conversation with Richard Garriott
Here, Richard discusses the shaping of the Ultima series, and also the
philosophy that is guiding the third trilogy. Especially interesting is
his musings about who the Guardian is going to be:
"The big question is, what is the Guardian? Who is the Guardian? What
does he look like? Is he a single malevolent entity of which there are
no others? Is he one of a race of bad guys? Is he a bad guy member of
a race that also includes good guys? Is he a very powerful version of
whatever he is, or is he a very weak version of whatever he is?..."
- Richard Garriott (pg. 388)
Conclusion
While the novelization won't win any awards, and the characterization is
not as in-depth as the relationships found in Margaret Weis and Tracy
Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles, there is nevertheless enough tidbits to
make reading it worthwhile. As a biographical source for Richard
Garriott, it is outshone by Addams' The Official Book of Ultima. However,
the hints here are detailed and easily looked up.
This review is Copyright (C) 1992 by Sir Launcelot Du Lake. All rights
reserved.
GUIDELINES: Computer for Gaming
by Dave Masten
Here are some very subjective quidelines on what type of computer to get
for gaming:
I'll assume you are interested in the latest generation games which
benefit, or even require, 386's or better, extra RAM, and a lot of hard
disk space.
Get at least a 386dx33 with cache. Even with this, WC II sometimes is too
slow and Falcon 3.0 doesn't load with the most detailed graphics, and
future games like Strike Commander may be marginal. With lowering prices,
less than this doesn't make sense, and a 486dx33 is a better choice. I
consider the 486SX to be a marketing ploy, as it is just a DX without the
coprocessor. But if it is significantly cheaper than a DX, and you don't
require a coprocessor, than by all means consider one. A 486sx25 will be
about 50% faster than a 386dx33, a 486dx33 about twice as fast. But I
haven't seen quite that much improvement in framerate. Most 486's are
upgradeable, check for this. Don't get a 386sx with its lowly 16 bit
data bus. Note some games will be too fast on these systems, but slowdown
utilities are available.
Get at least 4 MB of RAM. Many newer games can use, or require, EMS for
extra graphics, etc. You need 3 MB RAM to get all of Falcon 3.0's
features. Also, a disk cache of a couple of MB is great for cutting down
on disk access delays. 4 MB+ is recommended for Windows, 8 MB+ for OS2.
Gamewise, a coprocessor is of little use. As far as I know, only Falcon
3.0, and V for Victory support it, and neither require one. But I use
mine for work, and you can get a 387/33 for less than $90.
Get at least a 100 MB disk, more is better. Disk speed is pretty much OK
on all now, but definitely use a software disk cache like Smartrive. Hard
disk space is now cheap and newer programs are huge. WC II + speech
gobbles up 21 MB. I would have run out of space on mine if I didn't also
use Stacker.
Most games use 320x200x256 color, so an SVGA system is superfluous, but
not much more money. Some new games support the SVGA 640x400(480?)x256
standard. So for now you can get away with a VGA monitor and card with
512 KB memory. But supposedly video card speed is a major factor in frame
rate. To play it safe, I bought the highly rated Diamond Speedstar Plus,
with 1 MB memory (memory is cheap). Newer, similar cards, cost about $100
more than no-name VGA or SVGA cards. Most new cards have Windows
accelerators which boast 10x, or so, improved performance. This refers to
Windows performance, not games which just use the VGA features. In fact,
I understand that some of these boards (those with the S3 chip for
example) are slower for games.
Now you have the option of a 'local bus' motherboard and SVGA cards with
some 486 systems. My experience contradicts their claims of vastly
improved graphics speed (in games). But still, I think it is the way to
go. If you get one, get the new VESA standard (VLBus), not a proprietary
one.
I bought a no-name 14" SVGA, 0.28 mm pitch, interlaced monitor for about
$300. Might show a bit of flicker in 800x600 mode in Windows, no problem
at 640x480. A more expensive multi-synch monitor would be underutilized,
but may be the one component of your system that never needs upgrading.
I'm glad I got a Soundblaster (now <$100) and some cheapo walkman-type
speakers. The sound isn't great, but is orders of magnitude better than
the PC speaker. Digitized sound greatly enhances Falcon 3.0. Newer
boards like the Soundblaster Pro and compatible PAS-16 offer near-hifi
sound and extended capabilities, and are just starting to gain support.
I'll wait and see how the new Gravis Ultrasound, and yet to be released
SB16, do before I upgrade. For now, a basic SB is about all you need.
If you like flight sims, you'll want a joystick. I highly recommend the
CH Flightstick. For the ultimate flight simmer, get a Thrustmaster FCS
Pro. A mouse is a must.
So in summary, 386dx33 cached minimum (strongly advise a 486/33), 4+ MB
RAM, 100+ MB disk, 2 floppies, cheapo SVGA monitor (0.28 pitch), and a
reasonable (~$150) SVGA card. A mail order system will cost less than
$1400 (as of 11/92). Add about $130 for a Soundblaster and Flightstick
and you're flying!
This article is Copyright (C) 1992 by Dave Masten. All rights reserved.
The 1993 NPC: A Taste of the Newest High Performance Game
by David Taylor
Where can you find the fanciest computer game available to Man? Probably
on the Cray's owned by the U.S. Air Force, used to simulate dogfights, but
those are a little out of our reach (and security clearance).
The hottest machines you'll find most commercial-quality games on are
high-end PC's, running at 50 MHz, with a local video bus, fast memory,
fast cache, and a fast hard drive. Unfortunately, the good games usually
use 320x200 resolution, are forced to run under MS DOS, and oftentimes run
wildly out of control if your PC is *too* hot. Networked games, although
catching on, are not yet anywhere near as popular as we'd like.
But that's about to change.
The game uses hand-drawn and scanned images, animates almost as fast as X
is capable, has CD quality sound with distance modelling and mixed on the
fly, can be networked to more machines than you can shake a stick at, and
requires at least 2 UNIX workstations (or CPU's) to play in one-player
mode.
Even though you run it in a window, it'll scream at 400x400 resolution,
and as boxes get hotter, it can even look good using the full screen
resolution of 1280x1024. And yes, that's 256 colors. It'll run in a
network of totally different (heterogeneous) computers just fine. And if
your PC runs a BSD UNIX which supports the IPC shared memory library and
X, it'll run on there, too.
Sounds yummy, huh? You haven't heard about it in the rags, and you're not
going to hear about it from me. Not until March 20th, 1993, that is, the
date of the second National Programming Contest. This game is currently
in development and will act as the driver for the contest. The contestants
will show up on Saturday morning, March 20th, and at that time we will
announce the game. The contestants will then have only 1.5 days to write
the most intelligent programs they can to control the players in the game.
On Sunday, March 21st, we will watch as those players savagely fight each
other to first place.
After the contest, the game will be packaged and released for the IBM
RS/6000. Although it should compile on any UNIX machine, there is no
sound standard in UNIX, so the remaining platforms will not have sound.
If the game is received well on the RS/6k, we will port the sound library
and release it for the Sun Sparcstations.
We hope that this attempt to create a serious UNIX game will be met well.
Although SimCity has been ported to UNIX, few other games have. There is
rather a large void in the UNIX game market, and hope that there will be
enough response to justify continuing the effort. With luck, the world has
become intolerate of the limitations of DOS and will consider moving to an
operating system designed to exploit the high-performance computers many
people now own.
-If you wish to apply to compete in the contest:
If you are *very* good at programming, are working on an undergraduate
degree at your university, and can find two other students to join your
team, you can apply to compete in the contest. Send mail to ahmedh@ccwf.
cc.utexas.edu for application information. The tentative deadline for
submitting appliations is December 30th, so don't delay!
-If your company might be interested in helping the contest:
If you or your company is interested in helping to support this contest
either financially or with prizes, please send mail to benz@ccwf.cc.
utexas.edu or tio@cs.utexas.edu, respectively. If you have other
questions about the contest, mail answers@npc.ece.utexas.edu. The phone
number is (512) 471-5038.
-A preliminary thank you:
The NPC is being hosted by IBM this year, who is providing us with 50
RS/6000 workstations, the contest site in Austin, TX, and a great deal of
patience and support. Our primary financial sponsor is Texas Instruments.
The NPC is organized by the students of the University of Texas at Austin
Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society. We would also like to thank the UT
ECE Department, especially Dr. Charles Roth and Dr. Mario Gonzalez, for
supporting the contest with rooms for the development machines in a
building where space is gold.
The IEEE CS NPC is a non-profit event.
FALCON 3 by Spectrum Holobyte
SAM Evasion Tactics
by Jim Knutson
Many people have complained about not being able to avoid SAMs (particu-
larly SA-7s) in Falcon 3 and eventually turn them off. This article will
describe the steps necessary to avoid being hit by SAMs.
The first and most important thing to know is situational awareness. You
must use every means possible to know what is happening and where you are
in relation to everything else. This includes using RECON and TRACE in
the mission planning phase to determine where threats are likely to exist
in relation to your flight. Try to minimize the danger from these threats
as much as possible and be aware that even though you've done your best to
minimize those threats, they still exist.
Eventually, even the best planners get shot at. It's a fact of life for a
fighter pilot. How you react when that happens will determine whether you
will be a dead fighter pilot or get to put your name on the Sierra Hotel
list. Remember to always keep your cool and try to fly pretty. It may
sound funny, but flying pretty requires lots of skill and concentra-tion
and doesn't waste energy on anything that is unnecessary. In other words,
be smooth and precise.
When you get a launch warning, don't panic. IMMEDIATELY pop into padlock
view (if you're already there, use the 8 key to target the SAM), start
turning into it and get your nose down (somewhere below the horizon that
is, but not straight down). How much nose down depends on how high you
are above the ground and how far you are away from the SAM.
Let's say you're flying level at 3000 feet and you get a launch warning
from the left rear quarter. You roll 100 degrees to the left and pull
back on the stick (100 degrees is an example, you might want more if
you're high or less if you're low). You want to keep the missile in your
vertical plane. This will pull your nose down below the horizon and start
your turn back into the missile. Pulling your nose down a bit will
prevent you from bleeding energy as fast as going vertical (Hi-Fi flight
model). How fast you want to turn is going to be based on how close the
SAM is. The closer it is, the faster you want to get your nose around.
To get the best turn rate from your aircraft, you need to be at "corner
speed." If you're slower than 450 kts, go to 100% mil power. If the SAM
is an SA-7 stay out of afterburner and if you're in AB, get out (you don't
need to be the perfect heat source for the SAM to lock on). If you're
faster than 450kts, pop those speed brakes and slow down.
Don't point your nose directly at the missile. Stop pulling back on the
stick when the missile is about 45 degrees above you (you want it to be in
the vertical plane that runs from your nose to tail and is perpendicu-lar
to your wings). Also, don't roll out to horizontal when you get the
missile located 45 degrees above the horizontal plane of your aircraft.
Keep it fixed in that position on the canopy.
You can pop chaff or flare early if you want, but when you see the SAM
start turning into you, pop 3 or so chaff or flares in rapid succession
and start pulling as many G's as you can. This will tighten the turn that
the SAM must make to hit you. If you do everything just right, it won't
be able to make the turn. It will pass overhead and behind your aircraft.
Remember to use the correct countermeasure for the threat. Popping flares
for a radar guided missile won't do any good. The same applies for chaff
and infrared missiles. Popping both will waste one or the other when they
may be needed later.
After the SAM misses, make sure you don't have your speed brakes hanging
out. You may need to use AB to get your airspeed back up and maybe gain
some altitude. Do it now before another SAM is launched. While you're at
it, you'll probably want to pick a direction that lets you exit the area
in the minimum amount of time so you can re-compose yourself. This is
where situational awareness helps.
While this works in the general case for any missile, there may be other
tactics which are more effective for a given missile type. For instance,
turning ECM on at the launch of an SA-6, beaming, and other methods which
defeat the guidance of radar missiles may be more effective than waiting
for it to come up and meet you.
I hope this works for you. It takes a bit of practice to know just when
and how much to do each step.
This article is Copyright (C) 1992 by Jim Knutson. All rights reserved.
Microsoft Windows 3.1 by Microsoft Corporation
Reviewed by Eric Neuman
Over the years, Microsoft has put out several games that have met with
extremely mixed reviews. These products ranged from old arcade games to
flight simulators. None of these games have been nearly as controversial
as their latest and hottest new release: Microsoft Windows 3.1. The
rumors that have been floating around about the hours that went into the
production of this new game are astounding. Apparently, Microsoft used
hundreds of programmers to develop this product, and set a new record for
amount of people beta-testing a game. We'll have to see whether all this
hard work pays off or not..
System Requirements:
While developing this product, Microsoft decided to take today's
standards of games and raise them to a whole new level of play. I warn
you that the requirements to play Windows are quite high, and it would be
wise to double-check this list before running out and purchasing it:
* 15 free megabytes HD space
* minimum of four MB RAM (Microsoft did such a good job designing this
product, it will suck up as much memory as you can possibly give it.
I recommend at least 8 MB for smooth play.)
* VGA monitor with 640x480 minimum resolution
* Microsoft-compatible mouse
* Adlib/Soundblaster (optional, but really adds to the fun)
Windows of Action (Gameplay):
The documentation Microsoft provided is a little bit fuzzy on this point,
but the plot element in Microsoft Windows is certainly one that has been
repeated time after time: You, the brave adventurer, are about to enter
into a wonderful new world called Windows, a world that old men whisper
is full of untold riches and cunning enemies.
Instead of using the typical form of defining the adventurer, known as
character creation, Microsoft opted to try a new and untried route which
we will term world creation. The player character actually chooses which
elements of the world to install on his hard drive, thus shaping the
world to his preferences. I heartily applaud this decision on the part
of Microsoft, and hope that this new method will be tried by many other
software companies in the near future.
Once the player has entered into Windows, he starts out on the main map,
which is termed mysteriously as Main. Movement is handled via a series
of icons whereby the player clicks his way between the various regions
that make up the kingdom of Windows. This world is indeed vast, and the
new adventurer should be very cautious when first exploring. It is easy
to get lost, and it is not wise to be stuck out After Dark.
So far I have played Windows for dozens of hours, yet I do not feel close
to solving it. The world is so incredibly huge that I feel I must be
missing some vital clue in one of the villages. If someone out there has
gotten past the Riddles of Progman Manger, please let me know
immediately. Unfortunately, as of release time, Microsoft has yet to
release a clue book, although I am told one is forthcoming.
The casual gamer may be dismayed at first that Windows is not a hack-'n-
slash game (like Windows closest competitor in the game market, OS/2),
nor does it even have a "kill Foozle" plot. However, the patient and
dedicated gamer will find much to like. There are many treasures hidden
in the towns, villages, and ominous caverns that make up the game world.
This game is definately going to take some time to solve. Not only is
the game rich in detail, but the busy programers of Microsoft have been
releasing countless add-on disks that allow for the player to enter new
locations in the world of Windows, and solve even more challenging
puzzles than before.
In fact, Microsoft Windows 3.1 is so successful that they are already
hard at work on a sequel, to be called Windows NT, which will be released
early '93. The rumors are that you can transfer all your add-on disks
over, but this has not been confirmed yet. Expect full coverage of that
product when it is released.
Lay of the Land (Technology):
When I first booted up this new game called Windows, I wasn't very
impressed with the intro. All they have is a little "splash screen", a
technique that dates back to the Apple II days. Perhaps they could have
at least had some animation of the flag waving or a introduction with
digitized speech.
That is about the only shortcoming to be found in this game, however.
Microsoft seems to have leap-frogged the competition with hi-res VGA and
SVGA resolution options that can fully utilize the capabilities of your
CPU and graphics system. The look of Windows during play can be very
nice, offering 8 bit, 16 bit, or even true color (24 bit) graphics.
Those vicious flying toasters come to life like no other game to date.
One shortcoming of Windows is that it's animation is somewhat slow. With
hardware short of leading edge, animation is restricted to small portions
of the screen or in chunky blocks. The graphics engine is nice but could
use some tinkering.
Overall, the quality of work that went into this is exceptional. The
initial bugs that were reported have mostled been fixed, and the game now
works flawlessly. Let's hope they can keep up the good work!
This article is Copyright (C) 1992 by Eric Neuman. All rights reserved.
ED. - The opinions expressed below are the opinions of Eric Neuman and
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Game Bytes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Future of Role-Playing" by Eric Neuman
Over the past ten years, we all have seen a remarkable number of fantastic
new worlds spring to life before our very eyes. Who could forget the
serene beauty of Daventry in King's Quest I or the dangerous countryside
of Britannia? The very walls seemed covered with blood in The Bard's
Tale, while the immensity of the universe loomed before us in games such
as Starflight. It truly has been a decade of excitement, adventure, and
sheer carnage for avid role-players throughout the world. What I would
like to offer here is simply my opinions on the future directions that
role-playing games might or should take. I am not an expert. Simply an
avid game player such as those of you reading this article.
The most obvious change that has occurred in the past years is the
improvement in graphics that machines could support. I still remember the
days of old when I tended to wander around the dimly lit passageways of
the Great Underground Empire in search of fabulous treasures and renown
throughout the land. This of course took place on my faithful old Apple
IIe with only simple text descriptions to guide me on my way. These games
may seem dreadfully old to gamers today, but there is still much to be
said for those text adventures. One thing that I enjoyed about these
games so much was that they left virtually everything to the imagination.
Zork just wouldn't have been the same with a epic soundtrack and super hi-
-res VGA graphics.
Each new year seemed to bring some new higher graphics mode with it, until
we are up to today's standard of 320x200 resolution with 256 vibrant
colors. These better graphics modes have brought with them amazing new
screens, full of vibrant backgrounds and animated characters to interact
with. A prime example of this would be the beautiful hand-painted/scanned
art that made the King's Quest series so immensely popular.
With all of these advances, what could possibly remain to be done in the
field of graphics? Quite a lot, actually. As CD-ROMs slowly begin to
gain a greater share of the market, game designers will be able to
incorporate such exciting additions as full motion video. This leads to
the interesting possibility of finding real life actors to replace the
hand-drawn, animated heroes of today. Imagine being able to use your
television to dial up a special computerized cable channel to conduct
role-playing sessions with people from around the world. To see scanned
images of yourself walking around in a dungeon fighting equally realistic
monsters! The possibilities seem endless...
Another trend in the computer industry that has slowly been gaining steam
is the addition of sound and speech within games. The earliest computers
could only generate a limited amount of sound through a speaker by
changing tone and pulse. Eventually, this sound was changed to be more
realistic and allow for speech. This eventually became standard in the
Apple Macintosh and Commodore Amiga. Only recently have IBM clones been
given the capacity to play music with the introduction of special sound
cards to place inside the computer. The only thing that can be said for
certain about sound in computer games is that it will continue to take up
ever-increasing amounts of valuable hard disk space on a computer. Until
CD-ROM becomes standard, developers must learn to make efficient use of
little amounts of speech, sprinkling it throughout a game in such a manner
as to enhance certain parts of it. The prime example of this would be
Ultima VII:The Black Gate, where the player is continually haunted by the
chilling words of the evil Guardian as he watches over the player.
The previous two examples of graphics and sound are only a few of the many
changes that have recently swept the computer industry. One could just as
easily talk about the introduction of the mouse or the hard drive. Yet
when you really look closely at a game, these are nothing but mere
embellishments put on top of the heart of the game. This heart is the
actual world the game takes place in, and the events surrounding a
character.
All too often in the computer industry, game designers tend to spend way
too much time with the graphics and interface of a particular game, and
not enough time on the important issues of plot and characters. If you
take a good look at some of the games of ten years ago, they haven't even
changed from ten years ago. Games like Eye of the Beholder are nothing
more than Wizardry with fancy graphics thrown in, and maybe different
monsters if the game designers really get creative. What people need to
realize is that it takes much more than just fancy graphics to make the
game.
Several series have been taking enormous steps towards meeting this goal
in the last few years. The forerunner by a mile is none other than the
beloved Ultima series by Richard Garriot. As soon as one enters his rich
world of Britannia, it is apparent that the games will focus more on
exploration and puzzles than combat. Indeed, his most recent addition,
Ultima VII (Part I), had a refreshing lack of much combat. It is
interesting to note that even though there was not much combat during the
game, it was still just as exciting.
The important part of role-playing is in depicting different types of
cultures and situations that the character may find himself in. In this
manner, even the Ultima series falls short. No game to date has yet to
depict a really different culture in much detail. I realize that this is
a hard task, and am not criticizing anyone, but simply stating that this
is an element that designers need to pay more attention to. I was
particularly impressed by the effort of Sierra On-Line in their Quest For
Glory series. Each game of the series portrays a different culture, from
the rustic village of Speilburg, the Arabian locale of Shapeir, and the
jungle tribes of Tarna. Another crowning effort in the attempt to develop
cultures would be the depiction of Medieval Germany in Darklands. They
did truly a top-notch job of putting little details in their game, right
down to the type of weapons and armor used in Germany during that period
and the religious beliefs of that day.
Characters are another area of gaming that leaves much to be desired. It
is really interesting when one wanders across strange characters that seem
to have a personality of their own. Many different games (too numerable
to be mentioned here) each have their own unique persons. What needs to
be done is to find a way to allow more interaction with these characters,
and put more of them in a game. I was really delighted by the efforts of
Lucasfilm Games in Monkey Island II, where the player encountered such
memorables as Stan the Used Coffin Salesman and Wally the meek
cartographer.
The final area of importance in games is plot. I can just picture a major
corporation meeting to design a new computer game. The executives are
crouched around a expensive oak table, muttering among themselves. Hmm.
What should we call bad guy the play must kill this time? What should the
dungeon be named? People need to learn to create better plots to place in
their games, instead of just rehashing the same material over and over. A
method they might try using is to spend several months developing a world
first, with plenty of detail and colorful characters. Usually, a unique
plot will spring forth naturally as a result of this process, and would be
far better than one dug up from scratch and trying to mold a world to fit
the plot.
A final note needs to be said here before concluding about beta-testing.
Once the games have finally been completed, ignoring for a moment how
great or bad they are, they are sent out to beta-testers to try and spot
bugs in the games. As games are getting more and more complicated, more
and more bugs seem to be slipping by the designers. I feel that this is
understandable, but that some blatantly obvious bugs are being slipped out
that should not have been. Take Darklands, for example. Do they really
expect us to believe that not one of the play testers tried to load a
game? Or else how do they explain the fact that the load function simply
does not work? Game flaws like this must be corrected before they are to
be released to the public. They have a right to a game that works
relatively free of errors or major failings, especially considering how
much money the average computer game costs today.
All in all, things are not looking very bad at all in the computer game
industry. Great strides towards meeting these goals are already being
taken, and many promising new games will be released within the next six
months that will bring them even closer.
This editorial is Copyright (C) 1992 by Eric Neuman. All rights reserved.
SPELLCASTING 301 HINTS
by Bill Faust
EVENTS: -------
Chapter 1 - Worth the weight
You shouldn't need this but, LOOK AT YOUR SPELL BOOK.
Chapter 2 - Life of the party
1) You need to find a group of females who don't have anything to do.
2) The girls want something, but they will settle for something that
will lead them to it.
3) Make sure there is something in the suite so that the thing you gave
the girls will lead them to it.
Chapter 3 - A man's beach is his castle
1) You need a new spell.
2) Listen to Sid.
3) The spell you need is a synonym for younger.
Chapter 4 - Sure fire flop
1) You need to get higher than the super-high-diving board.
2) You need two items that are related.
3) You need to purchase one of the items.
4) If only you could fly...
Chapter 5 - Bottoms up!
1) You need a new spell for this one!
2) This is a drink mixing contest, LOOK AT YOUR SPELL BOOK.
3) OK, so the daiquiri is real small. What if the strawberry was
big before you make it into a daiquiri?
4) This is where the new spell comes in, cast it on another spell.
1) That's a lot of liquid for one little person to drink! Maybe you
could find something to absorb some of it.
Chapter 6 - Big Jees
1) Watch a match at the Sand Bar.
2) Mona is nice, maybe she could use some help.
3) It sure is slippery on those wrestling mats.
4) What is the opposite of a flat chested woman?
5) It looks like the other babe could use some help on her chest too.
6) No one said they had to be REAL...
Chapter 7 - What's the matador?
1) You need to give the bull a good reason to run away.
2) This requires a purchased item, and a spell, or a spell altered item.
3) Use either a spell or the spell altered item to distract the bull
long enough for you to put something in his trough that will give
him the runs.
4) What did the school newspaper say is the biological opposite of a
cow? OR
4) Have you ever seen a bull sneeze?
Chapter 8 - Have a brawl
1) You need to cast 3 spells - that's all.
2) One new spell, and RATANT to alter it.
Chapter 9 - Do the wave
1) You need to wake up Fred.
2) What's the best way to wake someone up? Throw water on them, but this
must be special water.
1) Fred will do ok on the waves, but no one else will. If you want
something done, you have to do it yourself!
2) You need an item that you found underwater.
Chapter 10 - Bronze cheer
1) Read the tanning lotion tubes.
2) Make Azure happy, and you can get to the lemon juice.
3) Azure is blue, everything is blue! Maybe you should color her world.
Chapter 11 - Volley of the dolls
1) You need two new spells.
2) The rummy has a key that you need.
3) Alcohol will make the rummy happy and like you more.
4) Another strawberry can be gotten from the market..
Chapter 12 - Do the riot thing
1) The key to the aquarium was dropped - hmm. maybe you need it.
2) Notice how strong and sturdy the foundation is.
3) What's the opposite of strong?
Chapter 13 - A lot of bull.
1) You need a map from the mermaid.
2) Put the four horses in their rightful places.
3) FOLLOW THE PATH PRECISELY!
Misc. problems you might need help with:
----------------------------------------
How do I get into the mansion?
1) The dog is hungry. Give him a goal to dig for.
What can I do to get over the STREAM OF CONSCIENCENESS?
1) Listen to workman. He needs something.
2) Have you solved the castle building contest? You can't solve it
unless you have.
3) The ratchet is the wrong type. Use a spell to make it the other type.
How can I move the jellyfish and get to the treasure chest?
1) Have you passed the tanning contest? You can't solve it unless you
have.
2) The jellyfish is afraid of two items. Go there with both of those
items and he will leave.
3) I'm hungry for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!
How do I get past the squid in the cave?
1) Have you completed the riot yet? You can't get past the squid unless
you have.
2) It's just a worried mother...
Where can I get the four seahorses?
1) Under the sea!
2) Solve the HUEMAZE.
3) East of the casino.
4) The restaurant has a problem with shells in the their food. Cast a
spell to change the shell.
I'm out of money, how can I get more?
1) Sell used items in the pawn shop.
2) Look at the casino, and then cast a spell to change it. You might have
a chance of winning something if you do.
How can I get out of jail?
1) You're too big to fit through the bars, go on a diet!
2) What's the opposite of a locked cell?
3) The cell bars are only iron.
4) Go under the cell.
5) Feed the rat.
How can I get the items I collect under the sea onto land?
1) You can't do it - someone else has to.
2) Go visit the old lobster man and see what he does with non-lobster
things in his traps.
I need a new spell for the drink mixing contest, where can I get it?
1) Otto Tickingclock has it, but not with him. Talk to him...
Misc. Hints about playing S301:
-------------------------------
The authors have a demented sense of humor when it comes to a lot of
clues. The solutions to the puzzles are such that they are almost always
immediately obvious why, once you figure them out. I would suggest keeping
as much with you as possible, but since you can't carry every-thing keep
everything else in a center location, like your room, the suite, or even
the lobby of the hotel. Always get or buy everything you can and if you
can't get it, then remember where it is. The important items are almost
always set off from the rest of the description and are repeated when you
re-enter the room with the TERSE setting on. Spells are often needed in
conjunction with objects - this games makes massive use of RATAN and
UPPSSY spells. Always try to advance you spell levels. If you are at a new
level and have no spells for it, then you need to find one soon. SAVE
OFTEN! This shouldn't need to be said, but who knows.
That should be enough to start even the most clueless player, and
hopefully give the experienced ones some usefully suggestions to make game
play go a little smoother. If there are any parts that I don't cover
with enough hints, write me and I'll be more than happy to give another
couple hints.
Bill Foust
Ozone@acca.nmsu.edu
FoustWF@RoseVC.Rose-Hulman.Edu
This article is Copyright (C) 1992 by Bill Faust. All rights reserved.
Dear Street Fighter II fans:
You are receiving this message because you expressed an interest in our
Street Fighter II joystick for the Super NES.
We have completed our first run of 15 joysticks. We call it the
"SonicStick" (tm), in honor of Guile's "Sonic Boom!" yell. Our company is
called QSD Ltd., and based in Aptos, CA.
Our first run of joysticks sold out quickly. As we cruised the video game
stores, showing the SonicStick to store managers, several fellow SF2
fanatics approached us and signed up to buy one or two on the spot. The
retail price is $89.95. We're now in production on a second run of 100.
We are now selling the SonicStick through Software Infinity (Sunnyvale),
Teddy Bear Toys (Aptos), and direct through mail order. I'll be scanning
a picture of it into my workstation soon, so I'll send that out to you
when it's ready.
The SonicStick joystick is based on an 8-way tapered Ultimate joystick,
using Cherry microswitches rather then leaf switches. The buttons are all
Cherry microswitch-based, rated for 10 million presses each. The case is
a scratch-resistant Melamine (3/4") edged with arcade-style hardened
rubber. The whole thing weighs in at around 6 lbs. It comes with an
instruction manual, 90-day warranty, and stickers so that you may label
the buttons if you wish. The SonicStick faithfully reproduces the arcade
look and feel.
When I sent out the original Internet survey, we tentatively set the
retail price at $79.95. Those who saw our survey are eligible to buy one
at the original price through October 31. This special offer is not
available through stores; you must buy direct from QSD. When you call,
mention that you read and/or responded to the Internet survey.
To get your own SonicStick, contact us at:
QSD Ltd.
10193 Soquel Drive
Aptos, CA 95003
(408) 685-9315
...or visit Software Infinity in Sunnyvale, or Teddy Bear Toys in Aptos.
Yours Truly,
Greg Stewart QSD Ltd.
greg@gregs.smd.tandem.com
ACCOLADE
Accolade Releases STAR CONTROL II Galactic Conquest Sequel Adds Stunning
Fractal-Generated Graphics, Role-Playing, And "Plots Within Plots"
Category: Science Fiction/Role-Playing
Price and Availability: IBM PC and compatible computers - $59.95 Clue
Book - Available December, 1992
Specifications: Hard drive required; 640K RAM - 256 color VGA, MCGA; IBM
AT Class required, 20 MHz 386 recommended
Sound Board Supported: UltraSound, Covox SoundMaster II, Covox Speech
Thing, ASC Media Master, MediVision ProAudio Spectrum, Thunderboard,
AdLib, Disney Sound Source, Soundblaster, Parallel Sound Devices,
Microsoft Windows Soundboard
SAN JOSE, CA-NOVEMBER 12, 1992 -- Accolade today announced the release of
Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Master, a hybrid action/role-playing
adventure set in the spectacular science fiction universe established in
the original, award-winning Star Control. Created by Paul Reiche III and
Fred Ford, this long-awaited sequel once again pits the player against the
iron-clawed fascism of the evil Ur-Quan Hierarchy.
"Star Control II combines the strategy and action elements of the original
with sophisticated science fiction role-playing," said producer Pam
Levins. "There's plenty of stunning space combat, but now it's contained
within an intricate plot structure. To win, you still have to plan
strategy and fight like a veteran starship commander ... but you also have
to talk with alien races like an interstellar diplomat and piece together
puzzling scenarios like a senior intelligence analyst."
"There are plots within plots," added Paul Reiche III. "You can't just
blast away at things. You have to ask yourself: What do these Aliens
really want? Since there are more than 100,000 words of text in this
program, the conversations with the Aliens you'll encounter can be
different virtually every time," Reiche concluded.
Star Control II lets you travel hyperspace to explore and liberate more
than 500 unique star systems, each with a full complement of planets and
moons. Visually, the game raises space adventure to a new plateau with
its ultra-brilliant 256-color graphics of hyperspace, 3-D rotating
planets and fractal-generated planet surfaces, as well as its detailed
alien portraits and stunning ship-to-ship combat imagery. Add to that a
remarkable soundtrack of pure digitized sound and music unlike any heard
before on the IBM PC. Star Control II supports most major sound boards
including, UltraSound, Soundblaster, Disney Sound Source and Parallel
Sound Devices.
The game returns you to the 22nd century star clusters introduced in the
original Star Control, chosen Best Science Fiction Game of 1990 by Video
Games & Computer Entertainment. The story begins with your character
stationed in a vast cave network beneath the surface of Unzervaldt, a
beautiful, earthlike planet located on the periphery of what was once
Alliance space.
Since the war with Ur-Quan Hierarchy raged through nearby star systems
nearly 20 years ago, your research colony has had no contact with Alliance
freedom fighters. Despite the risk of capture, your team of Alliance
scientists continues to investigate an ancient underground Precursor
installation, hoping to discover technological relics that could turn the
course of the war against the Ur-Quan.
Actual gameplay begins with a call to action -- you have been chosen to
leave the planet and find out what happened to Earth and Alliance of Free
Stars, and, if necessary, aid them against the Ur-Quan. The vessel you
command is a huge starship, constructed entirely underground using
Precursor designs and fabricators unearthed during the past two decades.
This gigantic, reconfigurable flagship is capable of coordinating a
squadron of mixed-race combat vessels, and can be laden with enough
weaponry to devastate an entire fleet of Ur-Quan Dreadnoughts. Even with
all this awesome firepower you'll face challenge after increasingly
difficult challenge in your quest to determine the fate of earth and
defeat the Ur-Quan and their vicious new battle slaves.
"So now there are 25 distinctly different spacecraft to master, ships such
as the Orz Nemesis, the Druuge Mauler, and the Utwig Jugger," added
Levins. "They add new tactical and strategic considerations to your
planning."
An additional new feature is the exciting Super Melee Game, where up to 28
starships can battle in ship-to-ship interstellar combat. A player can
create, name, and save his own team of up to 14 ships from both Star
Control and Star Control II, then challenge a different team of 14 ships
created by a friend or the awesome computer opponent.
A clue book for Star Control II will be available in December to assist
users with the more than 60 hours of game play available in the program.
The offer for the clue book and a one-of-a-kind jigsaw puzzle can be found
inside specially marked packages Star Control II.
"Fans of Star Control will find Star Control II a more-than-worthy sequel,
" concluded Levins. "And those who never played the original can jump
right into an experience they won't soon forget."
Star Control II is available at local software retailers or can be
purchased direct from Accolade by calling 1-800-245-7744.
CAPCOM USA
The Capcom Fighter Power Stick
"Street Fighter II" Fans to Experience Enhanced Home Video Game Playing
Action
SANTA CLARA, CA., Nov. 9, 1992 -- Electronic entertainment leader, Capcom
USA, Inc. today announced the release of THE CAPCOM FIGHTER POWER STICK,
specifically designed for use with Street Fighter II, the nation's top-
selling home video game release of 1992.
Universally compatible with all Nintendo home video game systems (both 8-
and 16-bit,) THE CAPCOM FIGHTER POWER STICK boasts a host of features that
will enhance the game playing experience.
THE CAPCOM FIGHTER POWER STICK features six action buttons, an 8-way
joystick control and a set of three rapid-fire turbo buttons, allowing for
a variety of shooting speeds. Additionally, players will be able to
experience greater freedom of movement to perform sophisticated maneuvers
and heavier shifting actions that are often more difficult to execute when
using standard, traditional control pads.
"THE CAPCOM FIGHTER POWER STICK helps bridge the gap between arcade-
quality gaming and home video playing action that requires rapid and
sophisticated player movements," stated Joe Morici, senior vice president
of Capcom. "By popular demand, our new joystick was created specifically
to meet the needs of Street Fighter II players, but its wide compatibility
offers complete functionality and value-added, enhanced playing to a broad
spectrum of game enthusiasts."
Street Fighter II for the SNES pits players against a wide range of
powerful "Street Fighter" characters, each of whom has his/her own
fighting styles and attributes. The title boasts 16 megs of power, making
it one of the most sophisticated games ever developed for the home market.
Released in July 1992, Street Fighter II follows the successful launch of
the Street Fighter II Coin-operated Arcade Game Series that has become one
of the most popular in amusement gaming history. As an arcade title,
Street Fighter II has won several industry awards, including Arcade Game
of the Year in 1991 (given by the Amusement and Music Operator's
Association), as well as the Diamond Achievement Award for Product
Excellence from Play Meter Magazine.
Capcom USA, Inc. a leader in the electronic entertainment and amusement
game industries, is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of an award-
winning product line, including coin-operated and video arcade games,
amusement products and home video games for the Nintendo line of
Entertainment Systems. A multi-million dollar corporation, Capcom
maintains its leadership position through innovation, research and
development, dedication to superior product quality, and commitment to
customer satisfaction. The company is based in Santa Clara, Calif.
Editorial Note: Pricing will range from $70 -- $75
D.C. TRUE, Ltd.
SHADOW PRESIDENT: YOU ARE THE PRESIDENT
New Simulation Game Now Available
EVANSTON, IL, November 12, 1992 - You are the President in "Shadow
President: The Simulation of Presidential World Power," a new personal
computer simulation game from D.C. True, Ltd. The company announced today
that Shadow President is available now for IBM and compatible computers.
It is June 1, 1990.
The Berlin Wall is falling.
The Middle East is about to explode.
No one has heard of "Desert Storm."
And no one would believe a Soviet coup.
Shadow President lets players experience the power of the Presidency. In
this award-winning simulation, the player is at the controls of the most
powerful nation on Earth, armed with money, weapons, influence, a Cabinet
of advisors, and the CIA World Factbook.
"Shadow President makes the world your laboratory. A laboratory that is
both entertaining and educational," said D.C. True founder and chief
executive Robin Antonick. "People will have fun with Shadow President as
they gain a deeper awareness of the issues and complexities involved in
making presidential decisions. It's mental exercise."
Based on CIA factbook data and seven years of Tufts University doctoral
research, informally presented to the U.S. State Department to aid in NATO
strategy development, Shadow President executes your every command.
Antonick, best known for developing the popular John Madden Football game,
noted that Shadow President allows each player to set his or her own
agenda. "You can promote human rights or drop the bomb. Send foreign aid
or execute a coup d'etat. But be sure to track your popularity rating if
you want to be re-elected," he said.
Shadow President can be played on an IBM-compatible computer with 640K
memory required. Digitized sound and music add an extra sense of realism
to the entire simulation. Suggested retail price is $69.95. Shadow
President is available through major software retailers or by contacting
D.C. True (708) 866-1864.
D.C. True develops, produces, and markets computer simulation games that
combine entertainment and education. D.C. True is located at 1840 Oak
Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201 in the Northwestern University / Evanston
Research Park.
Id Software
18601 LBJ Freeway, Suite 615
Mesquite, TX 75150
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jay Wilbur
Phone: 214-613-3589 x10
FAX: 214-686-9288
Email: jay@idsoftware.com
Compuserve: 72600,1333
Id Software to Unleash DOOM on the PC
Revolutionary Programming and Advanced Design Make For Great Gameplay
DALLAS, Texas, December 4, 1992 - Heralding another technical revolution
in PC programming, Id Software's DOOM promises to push back the boundaries
of what was thought possible on a 386sx or better computer. The company
plans to release DOOM in the third quarter of 1993, with versions for the
PC in DOS, Windows, Windows NT, and a version for the NeXT workstation.
In DOOM, you play one of four off-duty soldiers suddenly thrown into the
middle of an inter-dimensional war! Stationed at a scientific research
facility, your days are filled with tedium and paperwork. Today is a bit
different. Wave after wave of demonic creatures are spreading through the
base, killing or possessing everyone in sight. As you stand knee-deep in
the dead, your duty seems clear-you must eradicate the enemy and find out
where they're coming from. When you find out the truth, your sense of
reality may be shattered!
The first episode of DOOM will be shareware. When you register, you'll
receive the next two episodes, which feature a journey into another
dimension, filled to its hellish horizon with fire and flesh. Wage war
against the infernal onslaught with machine guns, missile launchers, and
mysterious supernatural weapons. Decide the fate of two universes as you
battle to survive! Succeed and you will be humanity's heroes; fail and
you will spell its doom. The game takes up to four players through a
futuristic world, where they may cooperate or compete to beat the invading
creatures.
Doom boasts a much more active environment than Id's previous effort,
Wolfenstein 3-D, while retaining the pulse-pounding action and excitement.
DOOM features a fantastic fully texture-mapped environment, a host of
technical tour de forces to surprise the eyes, multiple player option, and
smooth gameplay on any 386 or better. John Carmack, Id's Technical
Director, is very excited about DOOM: "Wolfenstein is primitive compared
to DOOM. We're doing DOOM the right way this time. I've had some very
good insights and optimizations that will make the DOOM engine perform at
a great frame rate. The game runs fine on a 386sx, and on a 486/33, we're
talking 35 frames per second, fully texture-mapped at normal detail, for a
large area of the screen. That's the fastest texture-mapping around -
period."
Texture mapping, for those not following the game magazines, is a
technique that allows the program to place fully-drawn art on the walls of
a 3-D maze. Combined with other techniques, texture mapping looked
realistic enough in Wolfenstein 3-D that people wrote Id complaining of
motion sickness. In DOOM, the environment is going to look even more
realistic. Please make the necessary preparations.
A CONVENIENT DOOM BLURB
DOOM (Requires 386sx, VGA, 2 Meg) Id Software's DOOM is real-time, three-
dimensional, 256-color, fully texture-mapped, multi-player battle from the
safe shores of our universe into the horrifying depths of the netherworld!
Choose one of four characters and you're off to war with hideous hellish
hulks bent on chaos and death! See your friends bite it! Cause your
friends to bite it! Bite it yourself! And if you won't bite it, there
are plenty of demonic denizens to bite it for you! DOOM - where the
sanest place is behind a trigger.
AN OVERVIEW OF DOOM FEATURES
Texture-Mapped Environment
DOOM offers the most realistic environment to date on the PC. Texture-
mapping, the process of rendering fully-drawn art and scanned textures on
the walls, floors, and ceilings of an environment, makes the world much
more realistic, thus bringing the player into the game experience.
Others have attempted this, but DOOM's texture mapping is fast, accurate,
and seamless. Texture-mapping the floors and ceilings is a big improve-
ment over Wolfenstein. With their new advanced graphic development
techniques, allowing game art to be generated five times faster, Id
brings new meaning to "state-of-the-art".
Non-orthogonal walls
Wolfenstein's walls were always at ninety degrees to each other, and were
always eight feet thick. DOOM's walls can be at any angle, and be of any
thickness. Walls can have see-through areas, change shape, and animate.
This allows more natural construction of levels. If you can draw it on
paper, you can see it in the game.
Light Diminishing/Light Sourcing
Another touch adding realism is light diminishing. With distance, your
surroundings become enshrouded in darkness. This makes areas seem huge
and intensifies the experience. Light sourcing allows lamps and lights to
illuminate hallways, explosions to light up areas, and strobe lights to
briefly reveal things near them. These two features will make the game
frighteningly real.
Variable Height Floors and Ceilings
Floors and ceilings can be of any height, allowing for stairs, poles,
altars, plus low hallways and high caves - allowing a great variety for
rooms and halls.
Environment Animation and Morphing
Walls can move and transform in DOOM, which provides an active-and
sometimes actively hostile-environment. Rooms can close in on you,
ceilings can plunge down to crush you, and so on. Nothing is certain in
DOOM.
To this Id has added the ability to have animated messages on the walls,
information terminals, access stations, and more. The environment can act
on you, and you can act on the environment. If you shoot the walls, they
get damaged, and stay damaged. Not only does this add realism, but
provides a crude method for marking your path, like violent bread crumbs.
Palette Translation
Each creature and wall has its own palette which is translated to the
game's palette. By changing palette colors, one can have monsters of many
colors, players with different weapons, animating lights, infrared sensors
that show monsters or hidden exits, and many other effects, like
indicating monster damage.
Multiple Players
Up to four players can play over a local network, or two players can play
by modem or serial link. You can see the other player in the environment,
and in certain situation you c an switch to their view. This feature,
added to the 3-D realism, makes DOOM a very powerful cooperative game and
its release a landmark event in the software industry.
This is the first game to really exploit the power of LANs and modems to
their full potential. In 1993, we fully expect to be the number one cause
of decreased productivity in businesses around the world.
Smooth, Seamless Gameplay
The environment in DOOM is one big world. You enter and exit buildings,
walk around outside, explore underground, take something off a table, and
so on. Just like real life. Everything is actual size. You never have
to leave the game environment unless you quit or save your first game.
And the frame rate (the rate at which the screen is updated) is high, so
you move smoothly from place to place, turning and acting as you wish,
unhampered by the slow jerky motion of most 3-D games. On a 386sx, the
game runs well, and on a 486/33, the normal mode frame rate is faster
than movies or television. This allows for the most important aspect of
gameplay - immersion.
DOOM will be available in the third quarter of 1993.
Our commercial distributor is FormGen, Inc. Reach them at:
FormGen, Inc.,
13 Holland Drive
Bolton, Ontario, Canada
L7E 1G4.
416-857-4141
DOOM, Id, and Wolfenstein are trademarks of Id Software, Inc.
INTRACORP, INC.
HOLY COW, he's back... CAPSTONE SOFTWARE SHIPS HOME ALONE 2
Miami, FL November 4, 1992 -- Timed for the Thanksgiving release of the
blockbuster movie sequel. Capstone Software is now shipping its sequel
computer game. HOME ALONE 2 - Lost In New York. This time the
McCallisters are vacationing in Florida but Kevin catches the wrong plane
and winds up in New York City with the Wet Bandit Gang in constant
pursuit. You play ever-resourceful Kevin leading Harry and Marv on a
series of whirlwind chases through the crowded city streets. The Plaza
Hotel, Duncan's Toy Chest and more.
"As the sequel to the top grossing comedy of all time, HOME ALONE 2
promises to be a gigantic box-office hit" commented Leigh M. Rothschild,
president and publisher of IntrCorp, Inc. "And we believe our new HOME
ALONE 2 computer game, -- packed with more action, animation and
excitement -- will be a real crowd pleaser this Christmas as well."
Digitized movie scenes, slapstick comedy and fourteen ful-scrolling levels
with multi-dimensional movement provide fast-paced fun for the entire
family. HOME ALONE 2 has a suggested retail price of $44.95 and is
available for IBM and compatibles with 640K, DOS 3.1 or higher, and VGA or
EGA. Sound support includes Soundblaster, Roland LAPC-1, AdLib, Sound
Master and PC Speaker. Use of a joystick is optional.
INTERPLAY
PLAYERS FOCUS ON STRATEGY WITH INTERPLAY'S LATEST RELEASE - CASTLES II:
SIEGE & CONQUEST
Category: Strategic Role Playing
SRP: $59.95 Disk
Format: 3.5" HD & 5.25" HD
Supports: IBM and 100% compatible; DOS 3.1 or higher;
640 K; most sound boards supported
Irvine, CA (Nov. 1, 1992) Interplay Production's latest release, CASTLES
II: Siege & Conquest, offers a completely new military, diplomatic and
administrative strategy game based on the best-selling CASTLES.
Marking a first for Interplay Productions, CASTLES II: Siege & Conquest
uses actual digitized movie footage to enhance game play. These mini-
films illustrate different game scenes including combat, messengers and
castle building.
In this newest addition to the CASTLES library, the player not only builds
and defends his own castle, but also has the option to attack and destroy
other players' castles. Each player must develop administrative,
diplomatic and military strategies while scouting surrounding territories,
defeating native militias, subjugating the land with castles, feeding and
maintaining the people and forging diplomatic alliances. CASTLES II:
Siege & Conquest allows for three levels of play difficulty and multiple
computer players each with a distinct story line.
CASTLES II: Siege & Conquest is now available and can be purchased at most
major software retailers nationwide or direct through Interplay
Productions by calling 1-800-969-GAME. The Amiga version is scheduled for
release in 1993.
MICROPROSE RELEASES TASK FORCE 1942
SURFACE NAVAL ACTION IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC
On the 51st Anniversary of Pearl Harbor
HUNT VALLEY, MD - MicroProse, Inc. (NASDAQ: MPRS), worldwide developer of
entertainment software, introduces TASK FORCE 1942, Surface Naval Action
in the South Pacific, for IBM -PC compatibles, on the anniversary of Pearl
Harbor.
This spectacular WWII surface naval game will further bolster MicroProse's
position as a leader in strategy and combat simulations. Focusing on the
Solomons Campaign of 1942, TASK FORCE 1942 enables the player to command a
fleet of destroyers, cruisers, and battleships against aggressive enemy
forces in the South Pacific.
No detail has been overlooked in this painstakingly researched simulation.
Your daily routine will include firing torpedoes into enemy backsides,
issuing commands to ships and convoys, and confronting hostile ships head-
on in explosive night battles. In TASK FORCE 1942, the player may command
either U.S. or Japanese forces and battle enemies in single engagements or
comprehensive campaigns.
In its continued dedication to historical accuracy, MicroProse received
technical guidance from Vice Admiral William Mack, Gunnery Officer aboard
the John D. Ford in the World War II Solomons Campaign. TASK FORCE 1942
will challenge and excite the player through realistic night combat,
blinding explosions, burning and sinking ships, flares, torpedo wakes, and
harsh weather conditions. When a Long Lance torpedo rips through the
hull of your flagship and huge columns of water from enemy gunfire
surround your battleships, it's another exciting day in TASK FORCE 1942.
TASK FORCE 1942 requires a 386 processor, expanded memory, 610K of RAM,
and a hard disk drive. The game supports Soundblaster, AdLib, Roland,
and IBM sounds as well as MCGA/VGA graphics. The suggested retail price
is $69.95. MicroProse, Inc., designs and markets entertainment software
worldwide for personal computers and video game systems. Its products are
available through major distributors, retailers, and mass merchants.
SIERRA ON-LINE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 10, 1992
SIERRA SHIPS ISLAND OF DR. BRAIN ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES FOR THE ADVENTUROUS
Newest Sierra Discovery Series Member Teaches Math, Science, Language,
Music and More.
OAKHURST, CA -- Visit the wacky and whimsical world of Dr. Brain for
another puzzle-filled session of genius gymnastics in the Island of Dr.
Brain, just released by Sierra for MS-DOS. Island of Dr. Brain is the
sequel to the popular Castle of Dr. Brain and the newest member of the
Sierra Discovery Series.
The good Dr. Brain needs his special battery to finish his latest
experiement. As the able-bodied lab assistant, the player sets out to
recover the battery from Dr. Brain's secret island; no easy task since the
Doctor has placed a plethora of perplexing obstacles throughout his
island. Of the 26 math, science and language-oriented puzzles, 24
randomly generate, making this game the most replayable chapter of the Dr.
Brain series. For example, there's a foreign language word search, a
tower of Hanoi puzzle, a polyominoid puzzle, a programmable robot maze and
a genetics puzzle. Like its predecessor, The Castle of Dr. Brain, each
puzzle has three levels of play that increase in difficulty. It will take
more than luck to get by the Doctor's obstacles -- it will take
perseverance and wit to complete the tasks. Fortunately, the game comes
equipped with an EncycloAlmanacTionaryOgraphy, an all-encompassing
reference manual filled with facts, figures and fun. Players can also
earn hint charges to assist through more difficult areas and higher levels
of play.
"This new addition to the Sierra Discovery Series illustrates the power of
mixing entertianment and education," said Ken Williams, president and CEO
of Sierra. "Players are exposed to a broad range of subjects in an
entertaining format, while opening doors to new areas of thinking that
ultimately encourage the player to continue to learn even outside the
game."
Island of Dr. Brain, like every other product in the Sierra Discovery
Series, carries an unconditional money-back guarantee. If for any reason,
parents are not convinced of the game's learning value, they may return
the game for a full refund. Other fun and educational games for children
ages 4 to 16 in the Sierra Discovery Series include The Castle of Dr.
Brain, EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus, Mixed-Up Mother Goose, Mixed-Up
Fairy Tales and Alphabet Blocks. Later this year, look for Twisty
History, EcoQuest II: Lost Secrets of the Rainforest and Quarky and
Quaysoo's Turbo Science.
Island of Dr. Brain is shipping on three 3.5" or four 5.25" high density
disks. Requires 286 or better and a hard drive. Mouse recommended, but
supports keyboard and joystick. All major sound cards are supported.
Suggested retail price is $49.95. Recommended for children ages 12 and
up.
SIERRA'S RECENT BRIGHT STAR ACQUISITION SHIPS FIRST PRODUCT -- ALPHABET
BLOCKS TALKS; TEACHES AND ENTERTAINS PRESCHOOLERS
Simultaneous Release of Macintosh and Windows Versions a First for Sierra
OAKHURST, CA-- Alphabet Blocks, a revolutionary educational language arts
game designed specifically to teach preschool children how to speak and
read the English alphabet, began shipping today for Macintosh computers
and PC-compatibles running Microsoft Windows 3.1. This is the first
product to be developed by Bright Star Technology since its acquisition by
Sierra On-Line earlier this year.
Alphabet Blocks is more than a game -- it brings personal instruction
home. Bright Star founder and Alphabet Blocks designer, Elon Gasper,
envisioned creating an educational product that was instructional,
intuitive and operable by a child, even if he or she could not read. "This
triggered an idea of an interactive, talking character as a powerful
metaphor," said Gasper. "The idea of using alphabet blocks came from a
mechanical simulation called the moveable alphabet. The teacher pronounces
the alphabet sound as the child selects an alphabet block. In Alphabet
Blocks the teacher is replaced by two talking characters named Bananas and
Jack."
Alphabet Blocks' two coaches aid children in learning more quickly through
constant encouragement, humor and fun. Bananas, a lovable toy monkey and
Jack, the friendly jack-in-the-box, guide children through four different
games teaching letter sounds, letter names, word sounds, vowel/consonant
recognition and simple vocabulary. Alphabet Blocks' easy to use interface
introduces children to basic computer and mouse operations.
Coach Jack challenges children to visually match letter shapes. When there
are eight correct responses on the first try, children are automatically
advanced to Jack's second game, where children match the letter name given
verbally with the letter block presented visually. Coach Bananas begins
his lessons by challenging children to match letter sounds with alphabet
blocks. Like Jack's game, the children are forwarded to the second game
upon completion of eight in a row and they are asked to identify the
word/picture that begins with a particular letter sound. As an enticement
to continue playing, animated rewards and surprises periodically appear as
children progress through the product.
Alphabet Blocks, like every other product in the Sierra Discovery Series,
carries an unconditional money-back guarantee. If for any reason, parents
are not convinced of the game's learning value, they may return the game
for a full refund. Other fun and educational games for children ages 4 to
16 in the Sierra Discovery Series include The Castle of Dr. Brain,
EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus, Mixed-Up Mother Goose and Mixed-Up Fairy
Tales. Later this year, look for Twisty History, Island of Dr. Brain,
EcoQuest II: Lost Secrets of the Rainforest and Quarky and Quaysoo's Turbo
Science to join the Sierra Discovery Series line-up.
Alphabet Blocks for Macintosh Computers is shipping on three high density
disks. Requires color Macintosh computers and system 6.0.7 or greater with
4 megabytes of ram. Suggested retail price is $49.95.
Alphabet Blocks for Windows 3.1 is shipping on three 3.5" high density
disks. Requires 386 AT or better, 4 megabytes of ram, VGA board capable of
256 colors at 640 x 480, Windows 3.1 compatible sound card and speakers.
Suggested retail price is $49.95
Bright Star Technology of Bellevue, Washington, is a wholly-own subsidiary
of Sierra On-Line, developers and publishers of entertainment and
education products for home computers. Sierra is one of the oldest and
largest developers of home computer applications.
SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE
TETRIS CLASSIC AVAILABLE FOR WINDOWS USERS
New version offers high-resolution super VGA graphics, music and head-to-
head play.
Categories: Action/Strategy
Available: Now
Computer: IBM/compatibles with Microsoft
Windows 3.0 or later Suggested Retail Price: $44.95
ALAMEDA, CA- Nov. 3, 1992 -- Spectrum HoloByte announces the release of a
high-resolution version of Tetris Classic for Microsoft Windows. This
update of the wildly successful game of falling blocks will please every
Tetris fan. Expanded gameplay includes two-player competitive and
cooperative modes with dual-pit mode and timed games.
Tetris Classic for Windows features beautifully rendered graphics
depicting scenes from Aleksandr Pushkin's popular Russian poem Ruslan and
Ludmila and classical Russian music from Mikhail Glinka's opera of the
same name.
Tetris Classic for Windows requires and IBM PC/Compatible with Windows 3.0
or later, 2MB RAM, one 1.2 MB 5.25" or one 1.44 MB 3.5" disk drive, and
hard drive. It also supports VGA or Super VGA graphics, Ad Lib,
SoundBlaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Roland and Pro Audio Spectrum sound
cards.
Tetris Classic for Windows is available through normal retail channels for
a suggested retail price of $44.95. Customers can order games directly
from Spectrum HoloByte by calling our toll-free number: 1-800-695-GAME.
STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS, INC.
SSI ANNOUNCES COMPREHENSIVE PACIFIC WAR SIMULATION
Introducing Gary Grigsby's Pacific War
Versions: IBM PC (December) - $79.95
Sunnyvale, CA -- November 20, 1992 -- Fifty-one years ago, on December 7,
the Japanese Imperial Navy launched a surprise attack against the U.S.
Naval forces stationed in Pearl Harbor, igniting World War II and changing
the course of history. Now Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) announces
another historical event - the release of Gary Grigsby's Pacific War, the
most comprehensive simulation of WW II's war in the pacific ever produced
for a home computer. Due in December for IBM PC, the game carries a
suggested retail price of $79.95.
Designed by Gary Grigsby, respected author of 21 SSI war games including
Carrier Strike and Kampfgruppe, Pacific War makes an historical
achievement by including all the ships, planes, and ground troops located
in the Pacific theater from 1941 to 1945. Encompassing precise detail,
the game offers the stunning drama of five campaigns, two scenarios, and
five levels of play. Individual real-life clashes from the war, such as
the Battle of Midway and the Battle of Coral Sea, are simulated within
campaigns which range in length from months to years. With 78 million
square miles of territory and 200 bases, Pacific War gives players the big
picture as they command their multitudes of U.S. or Japanese battle force
from their headquarters.
"Gary Grigsby succeeds with Pacific War where no one else has gone before.
He has created the only fully-developed simulation of the World War II war
in the pacific ever for a home computer. The ability to control the
firepower of both the U.S. and Japanese forces will keep players glued to
their keyboards," stated Kathleen Watson, SSI Director of Marketing.
Pacific War simulates the true WW II experience with a detailed database
listing every land, air, and sea unit under the player's command.
Realistic graphics display up-close combat scenes complete with bomb and
torpedo explosions. The simulation is uncanny, right down to the impact
of a Japanese Kamikaze plane crashing into the deck of an aircraft
carrier, the development of Atomic Bombs, and submarine maneuvers. After
battle, players can review damage incurred to either side to relive the
thrill of victory of the agony of defeat. Designed for one player who
fights the computer or two players who face off head-to-head, Pacific War
offers 10-100 hours of historical warfare.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. 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 war
game publisher and, based on industry rankings, is one of the top ten
entertainment software publishers worldwide.
DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THREE-SIXTY!!!
BATTLECRUISER: 3000 AD
Format: IBM PC and compatibles
Available: April 1993; SRP $69.95
Graphics: 256 color VGA, Super VGA upgrade sold separately;
Compatibilities: 386sx or better, DOS 5.0, expanded memory manager,
joystick or keyboard required (joystick recommended),
Hard Drive required; AdLib and SoundBlaster compatible
(sound board recommended); Voice recognition module sold
separately.
Step into the final frontier of gaming with Battlecruiser: 3000 AD, Three-
Sixty's first space adventure and flight simulation product. Combining
strategy, resource management, and story line elements, Battlecruiser:
3000 AD transports the player to a futuristic world of galactic command.
As ship commander for a consortium of planets called GALCOM (Galactic
Command), players will uphold galactic law and order and defend GALCOM
planets against the Gammulans, an aggressive warrior race bent on the
overthrow of the GALCOM consortium. Battlecruiser: 3000 AD is comprised
of over 50 strategic missions, including 10 high level, that provide a
clue path through which players learn the location of the Gammulan
homeworld and destroy it. Additionally, players find themselves
recruiting personnel, purchasing repair equipment, quthorizing vessel
upgrades, and deploying personnel and equipment for strategic space and
planet-based missions. In short, the player has complete control of all
shipboard resources including 1000 ship personnel.
Five years in development, Battlecruiser: 3000 AD utilizes 4 different
flight models, true 3D Goraud rendering, and state of the art photo
realistic ray-traced graphics. For those with Super VGA capability, the
SVGA upgrade module (sold separately) will provide even greater graphics
detail and brilliance. With a soundtrack composed by The Fat Man and full
support of 32 bit technology, Battlecruiser: 3000 AD represents the state
of the art in space gaming.
The first product from 3000 AD, Inc, Battlecruiser: 3000 AD is created and
developed by Dr. Derek Smart. Before Embarking on his gaming career, Dr.
Smart was a computer systems consultant specializing in networks and
artificial intelligence applications for corporations here in the United
States and in Europe.
The Software Toolworks
The Software Toolworks Announces Super Mario Bros. Edutainment Series
NOVATO, CA -- September 15, 1992 -- The Software Toolworks has unveiled
its plans to offer a full range of edutainment products featuring
Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. All products in the series will target the
learning market by providing challenging and entertaining products for
children ages 3 through 12. The five products in development focus on
geography, history, mathematics, reading, and early learning.
On January 9, 1992, The Software Toolworks and Nintendo of America jointly
announced a worldwide (except Japan) agreement in principle allowing The
Software Toolworks to develop "edutainment" products using the Mario Bros.
characters. Products will support IBM and compatible personal computers
as well as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Super NES.
According to Bob Lloyd, President of the Software Toolworks, the initial
arrangement has been expanded to include the early learning products based
on Nintendo's favorable evaluation of development work already completed
for the first product in the series, Mario Is Missing.
Mario Is Missing players explore famous and exotic cities throughout the
world and are challenged to set the world right after evil characters have
turned things upside down. The software is planned to be available
initially for IBM and compatible personal computers in the fall of 1992
and for Nintendo and Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems by mid-1993. It
is targeted toward children ages 8 through 12.
"The enormous popularity of the Mario Bros. makes them ideal characters to
help teach children important skills while they have fun playing
challenging and engaging games," says Lloyd. "The huge installed based of
Nintendo and Super Nintendo systems can now be used not just for
entertainment, but for helping children learn, as well."
Over 40 million copies of Mario Bros. games and over $300 million worth of
Mario-related merchandise have been sold since the Mario Bros. were
introduced in 1985. Nintendo of America claims that two-thirds of all
American children between the ages of 9 and 12 are familiar with the Mario
Bros. through the video games, related merchandise, and network television
cartoons.
The history product will focus on the chronology of inventions and
inventors throughout history. The target audience is children ages 8
through 12. The product is planned to ship in 1993.
Another product in the series will focus on early mathematics skills for
children 3 to 7 years old. The Super Mario Bros. will teach fundamental
skills using games specifically designed to hold the attention of children
in this age group. The product, not yet named, is planned to ship in
1993.
The Super Mario Bros. will teach early reading skills in another product
tentatively scheduled for released in 1993.
Another Mario Bros. edutainment product being developed will focus on
learning readiness, memory skills, thinking and reasoning, pre-math and
pre-reading skills, and will improve the general learning abilities of
children in the 3 to 7 age range. A release date has not been announced.
All of the products will offer high resolution graphics and state-of-the-
art audio capabilities and will utilize The Software Toolworks' in-house
expertise and proprietary technology.
Prices have not been announced. For more product information, call The
Software Toolworks at 1-800-234-3088.
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
themselves. 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
On America On-Line, send your comments addressed to:
RossGBytes
And finally, using Internet mail, feel free to mail your letters to:
ross@kaos.b11.ingr.com
Any of these three mailing methods are perfectly acceptable. If you
happen to have an account on EXEC-PC in Wisconsin, one of the largest
subscription service bulletin board systems in the world, or Nitelog in
California, you can also leave a mail message for me there. My full
account name on both systems 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.
Lee Ka Hing of Hong Kong writes:
I wish you every success here!
BTW, I just finished with GB7, and found it as enjoyable as ever. The
preview on X-Wing is just fascinating! Being a Windows user, it would
have been great if a Windows version of GB is available. Having
hypertext-links will make information in the magazine more readily
accessible.
GB: Great news! A Windows 3.1 (and perhaps NT) version of Game Bytes is
"in the works", even as we speak. We'd like it to be very robust so we
can't comment on when it might be done, but at least it is off to a good
start.
To give you some ideas on what can be done on Windows, I've converted part
of GB 7 into WinHelp format. Admittedly the version is far from refined,
but it nonetheless shows the potential of a hypertext interface. Hope you
will like it.
GB: Wow! This is what amazes me about the readers of Game Bytes. They
are by far the most innovative, creative group of people I know. Thanks
for your tremendous support.
Nils Petter Jacobson of Oslo, Norway writes:
I just had to send you a note expressing my appreciation for the Game
Bytes Magazine. I just downloaded it via Internet, and really enjoyed
reading it. There is an absolute need for a electronic magazine like this.
GB: Hey, land of my ancestors! Thanks for the compliments. We think we
'fit the bill' too.
I have a Super Nintendo in addition to my PC. Why? Superior graphics and
sound, of course!!! I totally love it and I am eagerly awaiting new games.
So I was really happy to see that Contra III was one of the tests included
in Issue 5. Please keep this up!! Many PC owners have either a Super
Famicom or a Sega Genesis, and need information and news about their
respective systems. All of the games magazines here in Europe seem to bee
written for 12-year olds, so it was a relief to read the test by Thom
Vaught. Since screen shots is a problem (read:Isn't there), tests of games
shouldn't take much space, thus more can be included. Wonderful, right?
GB: Cartridges...sigh. Actually, it was very good to read your letter
about this topic. I agree with you partially, though frankly, I don't see
that the consoles have a LOT over the PC in terms of graphic quality. In
terms of graphic speed, no doubt. But VGA and SVGA go a long way to
improving what you can do on t.v. With regard to your PC/Console
question, I agree with you wholeheartedly. There's comfortably room for
both in any active gamer's house. We've got a Genesis and a SNES in our
home, in addition to the 386 (soon to be 486.....right honey??....{sound
of kitchen utensils being thrown...} and all three get fairly even play.
At first, we bought the Genesis so the kids would leave dad's computer
alone. Then I started playing Sonic the Hedgehog and I was hooked. For
great arcade games, it's hard to beat the consoles. Heartily recommended
to all.
For a long time now I have been waiting for games that utilize Super VGA
and above, so I was thrilled to see Links 386, 7th Guest etc. Never mind
disk capacity, use stacker on your 300MB harddrive! Buy a CD-ROM drive or
add another harddisk!
GB: Yeah, they're GIVING 'EM away! :-) Actually, prudence is still a
worthwhile value, and while I agree with you, it's still "one step at a
time".
Tests of hardware, like soundcards and CD-ROM drives, should absolutely be
included. I, myself, is waiting to see the Soundblaster 16 tested
somewhere, haven't found any tests yet. How about testing new graphics
cards, like the New Generation ATI Ultra Local Bus Card, that is rated 30+
on the WinMark test. Maybe that is moving a little too far from games....
Anyway, yes, include reviews of anything to do with games!
GB: A special "hardware issue" will be appearing next! Issue #9 will
focus a lot of reviews on gaming hardware such as peripherals, joysticks,
sound cards, etc. We're trying to do a review on the Soundblaster 16 ASP
as soon as they become available. We probably won't get into graphics
cards that much simply because there are too many and none of them are
"positioned" specifically to the gaming market, though many fit the bill
nicely.
How about renaming the GAMEBYTE files, so that we can unzip them to a
GAMEBYTE directory? Now, a new version replaces the old....
Working on an easier long term solution, but our reader keeps changing
with improvements and old .dat files won't be read properly with new
readers. Slowly, but surely, we're stabalizing.
OK, enough from me in the land of the midnight sun. Looking forward to the
next edition of GAMEBYTE!
GB: Love to visit you sometime! Any cheap tickets to Oslo these days?
Thanks for reading.
Fredric Longren of Stockholm, Sweden writes:
Hello Ross. Just got GB#7 ( The OnScreen GameMagazine no.1.) downloaded it
to floppy for reading later at home. As I very fast screened thru it, I
noticed that the DOOM release 3/4:93 was only mentioned briefly in the
issue. How about the full pre-press release in GB#8. I sure think many of
your readers that is...
GB: Your wish is my command. Please turn immediately to the 'Vendor
Notes' section in this issue.
not connected to InterNet would be interested. For me that was the comp.
sys ibm.pc.games posting of the month. And pushing for shareware firms
like ID is a good thing (tm). I still got the posting saved if you need
it, but I'm sure Jay can support you with it ( as you seems to know each
other ).
GB: Jay's a great guy and instrumental in helping us with our BBS
distribution. I look forward to meeting him in Las Vegas at Winter C.E.S.
Regarding Doom, we'll be totally excited to present another interview with
Jay and the ID crew when Doom gets closer to shipping and give you a nice
preview of it too.
Your Mailservice is great, keep up the good work, switch to ARJ and only
use recycled bits.
GB: Thank you very much, and advice heeded! {HEY! Throw some more
'bits' on the fire!}
Marc from ... (I forget) writes:
This is my first letter to you about GameBytes, although I have been
reading since way back at issue #2. First off, I want to say you guys are
doing a fantastic job. The magazine is truly outstanding. I think the
format is marvelously appropriate for the subject matter, and that subject
matter is well covered. I think having the readers be the writers is a
great idea-- I have always been bothered by the reviewers in the paper
magazines who seem very hesitant to ever say anything bad about a game.
Your articles seem to tell it like it is.
GB: We really appreciate the kind words. Thanks.
And that brings me to the first of the two topics I wanted to bring up in
this message, which is advertising. In most magazines which I read, I
have always found the advertising to be a good thing. I read the ads to
see what vendors are claiming about their products, and just to stay
informed about what is out there and what is up and coming. I therefore
am inclined to say that accepting advertising in GameBytes would be a
perfectly acceptable (to me, at least), way of solving your financial
difficulties. The only worry I have about advertising is that reviewers
of less than the highest moral caliber can allow their writing to be
swayed by what an advertiser might think. However, I think this worry
does not apply to GameBytes for two main reasons:
1. Your reviewers are unpaid, and probably don't care a whole lot
if an advertiser pulls it ads, and ...
GB: Marc, if and when the time comes for advertising to appear, then
reviewers will be compensated in some fashion. It would be the only fair
thing to do. Without our reviewers, there wouldn't be a Game Bytes.
I guess it depends on the level of advertiser support we eventually get.
If it's just one company, then obviously we'll have to think through this
to be fair to all involved.
2. Due to your efforts to limit the size of GameBytes, I bet you would
have more potential ads than you have room for anyway, so the loss of a
single advertiser wouldn't be too serious.
GB: You're an optimist, but I hope you're right. It would be nice (only
sort of...in a demented sort of way...) to have to turn away vendors and
therefore their money.
Therefore, I feel safe in saying that you should go ahead and accept some
advertising in GameBytes if you need to. Not so much that it reduces your
ability to cover new games yourselves, but enough to get by.
GB: Agreed fully. It's just getting started that's the tough part. It's
also a hard nut to crack from our perspective with the vendors because
we're very "novel". They're not sure how to deal with advertising in a
magazine like Game Bytes, so we need some new approaches. Plus, it
remains very difficult for me to produce some hard evidence about just how
many readers there are out there for Game Bytes. I estimate it's over 50,
000 and growing, worldwide.
My second point concerns a trend I am noticing in recent GB issues, which
is increased coverage of dedicated gaming machines like the Nintendo and
Sega machines. There were seven reviews of games on these platforms in
issue #7. While I appreciate that some people use these systems, my
impression of GameBytes was that it was a more sophisticated magazine,
much like Computer Gaming World, which aimed at the more sophisticated
games available on real computers. These are the types of games which I
prefer to play-- ones with a more complicated strategic element, rather
than the run, shoot, jump games typical of the cartridge-based machines.
I would prefer to see more of an emphasis from GB on the more advanced,
feature-rich games available on real computers, and leave the Nintendos
alone. If the majority opinion disagrees with me, so be it, but I just
wanted to register my own feelings on the issue. Note that I enjoy action
games too, I just prefer the more advanced ones you find on PCs, Wing
Commander being a prime example.
GB: I appreciate your opinion. I would hope that having both wouldn't
hurt the either side. I think we have room for both, plus there are many
computer gamers (like myself) who also have a console (or both! ....like
myself.) Our biggest challenge in supporting the cartridge titles is and
remains the quest for a quality video game reviewer who can produce
intelligent, well-written, comprehensive reviews of cartridge games that
meet our expectations. I believe I have found several. I'm not entirely
happy with the quality of writing YET for these titles too, but I think it
will be improving drastically soon. However, you should also know that
Computer Gaming World is also covering cartridge games in a minor sense.
They spend a few pages each issue on cartridge titles too. My final point
about this is I think you would be remarkably surprised at the level of
sophistication and complexity of some of these cartridge titles available
on the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo (which, BTW, are the ONLY two
platforms we'll support in Game Bytes). They are getting truly amazing,
far beyond what was previously typical on the regular Nintendo. The games
we review in Game Bytes in this category are going to be those type of
games that computer gamers should take note of. They will be the
"exceptions". They will be the titles that even a hardcore computer gamer
would raise his eyebrows and go, "Wow! I'm pretty impressed!". They will
be the kind of titles that some computer gamers would see and go out and
possibly buy a console just to play them. They are in a unique category
and are worthy of a "look". I look forward to your reply about this.
Again, thanks for putting out a great product.
GB: You are VERY welcome. We enjoy putting it out, though it's very long
and hard work.
Marc Meltzer of .. Maryland (?), writes:
I just wanted to tell you I just finished reading GB #5 the other night,
and loved every minute of it. As soon as the main menu loaded up, I
knew I was going to enjoy the issue! I love the new interface, and am
happy to see all (or most) of the previous bugs fixed (if you don't know
what bugs I'm talking about, ask me and I'll mail them to you in a
different letter).
GB: Thanks Marc. Yes, I think we've nailed all the bugs so far, though
remaing compatible with every known SVGA system is still next to
impossible.
I don't know if you wanted to keep GB specifically geared towards new
releases, but my suggestions is to have a review of a classic game or
two with each issue.
GB: We'd love to do just that, Marc. 'Classic', of course, remains to be
determined in the eye of the beholder.
And finally, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!!!
GB: Working at it!!
Ryan Snodgrass of Asheville, North Carolina writes:
Yesterday, I decided to check out your magazine, as it was getting good
publicity on the net, and I was REALLY impressed. The first thing I did
next day was to FTP the back issues of GameBytes and read them. The
screen snapshots are much better than those on the back of the boxes and
the clarity is so much better than the published magazines it is
unbelievable. I have decided not to buy any more printed magazines, due
to the fact that GameBytes... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
GB: Oooh, ANOTHER letter for the archives! Your letter will be used
quite judiciously at C.E.S., Ryan! Thanks for the kind words.
... has so in depth reviews and lets me know more about the game than any-
thing else. Keep up the good work.
In issue #7, you said you were wondering how to tell the users that it
required VGA so before they download they would know they had to have VGA.
Well, many BBS systems now support the FILE_ID.DIZ file, which contains
what you want as the file description and it will automatically place that
as the file description on the board. Check out some of the ZIP, ARJ,
etc. files you DL next time and see if it has one, that is the format you
have to use (it is something like 8 lines x 20 characters per line or
maybe 30, I can't remember) Talk to you later.
GB: What I think is
increasingly necessary is a standard distribution
format which clearly states the contents of each issue plus the hardware
requirements as you stated them above. Thanks for the advice and for
reading. Hope to have you as a long time reader.
Kenn Takara of Urbana, Illinois writes:
I just wanted to say that I really enjoy Game Bytes. It provides a better
feel for the "look" of a computer game than any of the regular magazines.
In fact, the first thing I do is to go through all of the pictures..and
then go back and read what I want.
GB: Thanks Kenn. I'm glad you like what you see. It's nice to get some
credibility out here.
One thing that I would like would be some sort of "index" or listing of
all of the reviews (past and current). I hate to have to look through all
of the previous Game Bytes to find a particular review. Maybe when I have
some time, I may do this myself.
GB: Thanks for the offer, Kenn, but we're hard at work trying to put this
index together ourselves and publish it separately, plus have it be a
running feature in each subsequent Game Bytes issue. Stay tuned. Should
have it done after C.E.S. coming up.
Again, thanks for Game Bytes!
GB: You're very welcome!
David Vu of Australia writes:
Hi Ross.
Congratulations on the smashingly excellent quality of Gamebytes.
GB: 'smashingly'!! I like it!! Thanks.
I 've just finished reading Issue 6, but can not view those SVGA screen
shots, and I am especially desperate to see the shots from The Seventh
Guest. I have a Trident 8800CS SVGA card with 512K RAM - I can view all
standard 320x200x256 shots OK, but have not been able to view ANY SVGA
shots.
What kind of SVGA drivers are you using and may I suggest that you
consider using the SVGA256.BGI Turbo C interface to access different SVGA
cards.
GB: Hmm. We're still trying to gather as much data as we can about all
the variety of SVGA cards out there and boy, can I sympathize with a
software developer now. It's a royal pain. Compatibility? Balderdash..
Actually, our programmer wrote all the SVGA code on a Trident card, so I
would surmise there is either some configuration issue with your machine,
or even more likely, your card's video BIOS may be "mature" and need an
upgrade. We'll keep researching. Thanks for the note about the Turbo C
interface. I'll pass it on to our programmer.
I also recall reading from somewhere that your screen shots are saved
internally as GIF, so given that SVGA modes are not completely compatible,
you can give an option to save a screen shot to a GIF file and let us, the
ones that have incompatible SVGA cards, view them using our favourite GIF
viewers. I think the implementation of this is trivial given that you
have already got them saved as GIFs. How about it, Ross?
GB: Now that's not a bad idea on the surface, though one major block
remains. We do not own the copyright on the artwork we present in Game
Bytes. The screen shots you see are here because the software
developers/publishers give us their permission to use them in Game Bytes.
We cannot arbitrarily give permission to recreate them as we don't own or
have that right. I think the better solution will be to continue to work
out the kinks in getting all SVGA pictures to display properly on as many
cards as possible. Thanks for the note.
Keep up the excellent work! I am waiting impatiently for Issue 7.
GB: I sure hope you've seen it by now. I think you'll like this issue
even more.
BTW, the addition of hints and clues to Gamebytes is excellent. Make it a
true electronic magazine, and also consider commercial advertising as
well, it may give you some financial support since GB is getting very
popular.
GB: We're moving towards that goal as we believe the publishers have a
real opportunity here. G'Day. (I've always wanted to say that!...:-)
Hades Kong of Australia writes:
No doubt, you and your colleagues have done an excellent job on the Game
Bytes. I'm sure your goal towards the "ELECTRONIC" Computer Gaming World
will come true sooner or later.
GB: To be honest, I never thought Game Bytes would achieve this kind of
following. It's amazing to me. I do hope, that with the support and work
of a LOT of people, we can achieve the kind of status in the industry that
Computer Gaming World enjoys.
To make GB more popular, I reckon distribution is the main issue. By now,
I'm sure you have managed it good enough in the States but it seems that
there is still a long way to go here in Australia. So far, I can only
find GB in 2 of the local (Melbourne) BBS. The problem is, each Game
Bytes (the graphics version) is simply too large in size for most of the
BBS users. It is quite impossible for the users to download the file under
those limited online time and download ratios. The sysops then simply
don't put GB in the BBS. The text version can still be distributed but
haven't seen the graphics version, most BBS users think GB is just another
boring magazine. There must be a way to do it. Try making the files into
couple of smaller archive files when you release it (I think it is also a
good idea when GB grows larger than 1.2M or 1.44M in the future).
GB: One of our main problems remains size of distribution. Many times,
each issue is mailed to a variety of destinations, so it causes us to have
to "fit" on a floppy disk. Our other hope (though not at all in our
control) is that more and more people will find their way to purchase a
high speed modem (9600 / 14.4Kbaud). FTP'ing Game Bytes through the
Internet is another way to get around the problem. It constantly troubles
us though. We're already starting work on a hardcopy version of Game
Bytes which will of necessity have to be distributed like a normal print
publication with mailing and production costs. Obviously, these will be
sold through subscriptions. We're a ways away from that still though. I
think as word gets around more about Game Bytes, more and more sysops will
be interested in having both the text and the graphics versions on-line
for everybody.
Another suggestion is putting music (soundtracks, sound effects of the
games) in Game Bytes. It will surely beat the Computer Gaming World !!
GB: This will happen......when EVERYBODY has a soundboard and CD-ROM
drive in their machines!
By the way, please put the preview of Ultima VII Part II : The Serpent
Isle in Game Bytes #8.
GB: One issue too soon! Look for it in #9 along with our interview of
Warren Specter, producer of the game.
Once again, thank you for bringing us gamers this wonderful magazine. Keep
it up.
GB: Thanks for the compliments! It helps to keep it going.
