Alice through the VDU
ALICE continues her perambulations through Adventureland, pausing
to view three offbeat programs for the BBC Micro:
Pimania, Automata Ltd, £10.
Community, Ixion Software, £6.90.
Bridge to the East, Ixion Software, £8.05.
THE types of puzzles and problems within an Adventure are unlimited.
This month we've tried three games which include some new twists
in the usual format such as clues in tunes, economic problems
and a mixture of puzzles and keyboard dexterity. The last one
was reviewed by nimble fingers Nigel.
PI man's world hides big prize
Let's start with Pimania:
Remember the Masquerade hare which was buried somewhere in England?
All you had to do was solve the puzzles in the book by Kit Williams
and then go to the right place at the right time and dig it up.
Pimania is rather similar in that you have to make the program
reveal a date and place where the promoters will meet and give
to you a golden sundial, worth £6,000, providing you can
tell them how you solved the puzzle.
That rule should stop any cheating because you might be able
to decode the when and where but how to open the "Ultimate
Gate Of Pi" appears to be a nasty factorial problem.
The puzzle has been out for over a year but only recently on
the BBC Micro so I presume it is still unsolved.
The program has some animated pictures and begins with the Greek
letter PI flying up into the air and the cryptic query, "A
key fits the lock?". Give it the keyword and you meet the
PI man, who can be helpful, annoyed, unhappy, hungry or bored.
The program is full of tunes which, after a while, will make
you stuff the loudspeaker with cotton wool, but some of them are
clues. For example one of them is a hint about how you move around
in the PI man's world.
There appear to be, at the start, about 20 rooms to investigate
with objects placed randomly in four of them. Their locations
shift every time you start a new game.
The map of the game is simple but some rooms are only accessible
randomly and the PI man's appearances are also slightly erratic.
The puzzle appears to be to locate a number of objects like
a blackboard, calendar and telescope, and drop them at a certain
location in the correct order.
There are 3,628,800 ways of dropping 10 objects but the PI man
who helps you find the objects also tends to take them back, particularly
when you do the wrong thing, so he's still actually helping you.
After a few hours I was still trying to reason out the correct
order and getting a bit tired of going over the same ground again
and again.
It seems that, like twisty mazes, the only way to make progress
is to SAVE and then try, try, try again.
Of course the prize will keep many people at the keyboard. I
actually got a sundial but couldn't remember how 1 did it and
failed to drop it anywhere.
It doesn't matter anyway as computer professionals (such as
myself) are banned from the competition.
This version has been translated for the BBC and seems to have
a few slight bugs. For example, you are told there is a telescope
in the room but, when you try to take it, you are told that the
program can't see a telescope.
The program can take quite sophis ticated sentences like "Give
the pork pie to the PI man", which implies that the solution
might require quite elaborate commands.
It's an unusual Adventure which, with the prize incentive, should
keep the more mercenary among you occupied for weeks.
Lesson in survival
ALTHOUGH it is not a true Adventure — because the object is
to survive rather than solve puzzles - Community, from Ixion,
has a number of features that should appeal to those whose sword
arm has become weary and now wish to retire to a quiet life down
on the farm.
It is derived from the Kingdom game on the BBC Welcome tape
which has been popular in primary schools. But this is far more
realistic and complicated.
The Magnificent Seven might have saved you from the old bandits
in the hills but now you have to contend with bad weather, rats
eating the grain and plagues. Your animals will die and your peasants
are a particularly revolting lot.
At times you will have to visit the bank manager for a loan
and his middle name must be Dracula. (Ah for the good old days
when a stake through the heart was the answer and treasure just
lay on the ground.)
Teachers, particularly of economics, should find this program
very useful because it will not only keep their pupils occupied
for hours but should also instil quite a few useful lessons in
economic and business strategy.
A multitude of possibilities have to be simultaneously considered
and balanced.
You can rear four types of animals and grow four types of grain.
Each type of grain is susceptible to different weather conditions
which are predicted by a magician, who is right about half the
time.
Having raised and grown some food you must feed your livestock
and your peasants and then get the surplus to market.
It's a good idea to feed the rabble because you will need some
of them for protection on the way to market as a number of nasty
things can happen on this perilous trip.
This game has a number of useful ideas for the Adventure writer.
But it is a good program in its own right, particularly if played
by a group because then an element of competition can be easily
introduced.
Like many other games in this genre you will probably last longer
by making conservative decisions. But it's a lot more fun to take
gambles.
Bridge over troubled territory
Five into one goes down fine
BRIDGE to the East is different again. It consists of five different
screens of interactive games like Rocket Raid and Killer Gorilla,
with a different background display for each screen.
Separating each screen is a riddle which has to be answered
before you can try the next screen.
On each screen you, in the form of a wizard holding a staff,
must protect a specified place - or, in one case, persons — and
collect numerous items.
These feats are achieved by moving the wizard shape around the
screen with the Z (left), X (right), / (down) and * (up) keys.
Before each screen you are asked if you want to practice or
take the test, which means you are allowed to practice any screen
for as long as you like.
This is helpful because if you fail the test you cannot go back
- you have to go on to the next screen after answering the riddle.
This is the point where you are told what you must accomplish
on the next screen and also the point where you can save the game.
As each screen and riddle is loaded into the BBC separately
it is a good idea to save the game as often as possible as it
can take a considerable time to progress back to, say, the fifth
screen from the start of the game if you happen to fail one of
the intervening tests.
Another unusual feature of this game is that, whenever you win
or lose, each screen has its own piece of poetry which is displayed.
Like:
They go, leaving a trail, Of broken faith They come, bringing
venom From rotten lakes, Carved from lead mountains, With a man's
femur. This does not have any relevance to the game but makes
a change from the usual one line saying, "You have been killed",
or words to that effect.
The idea behind the game is that once upon a time there were
some crystals of power which were destroyed by evil fiends. It
is your job to collect the two pieces of the crystal star and
score more than 20,000 points, so that a seance can be held and
the crystals can be rebuilt. The two pieces of the crystal star
are in the huts on screens 1 and 2, and to get them you have to
win those two screens. So to the screen displays, starting with
screen 1 which is a display of a valley, with a background of
mountains and trees. It contains a red hut which you must protect
from all the shapes, which range from birds to rocks, that try
to attack it.
On this screen you have to score more than 2,000 points by destroying
the attacking shapes and collecting ten crystals which shoot across
the screen from right to left, which can prove fairly difficult.
The first riddle gives you a long, rambling monologue followed
by a description of a door which is opaque and glowing.
You are also told that no amount of force will cause it to open
but, being a wizard, you may effect the door in any other way
you choose.
This is a bit like an Adventure type problem but with less clues,
as the answer to the problem is to type in 'FREEZE DOOR'.
I think you have to work out this answer because the door is
glowing so it must be hot, but if you say 'TOUCH DOOR' you are
not given any clues like, 'You just burnt your hand'. All you
get is, THAT HAD NO EFFECT'.
This example sums up all the following riddles and is the only
major criticism that I have of the games.
Also the riddles are not random. So every time you take the
tests you will have to answer the same old riddle, which could
prove rather tedious.
To find some of the answers I had to resort to listing the program
as the clues get even vaguer.
Screen 2 has a background similar in layout to screen 1, but
this time your wizard has to protect a pinnacle of rock from a
different assortment of shapes. He also has to collect five crystals
which shoot across from left to right.
Although similar sounding to screen 1 this screen is a lot more
difficult.
After progressing through the second riddle you arrive at screen
3, which has a totally different appearance.
Your viewpoint is from the inside of a cave looking out through
the entrance to the sea where a red sun is setting.
Across the inside of the cave is a bridge over which two figures
are trying to cross. Your wizard's job is to escort them safely.
You may also collect flying crystals if you have time.
After the third riddle comes the sea hermit's hut, which you
have to protect. On this screen the top half of the display is
a mountain range running down to the bottom half of the display
which is a beach with the sea coming onto it.
You have to collect 26 eggs which are dropped by attacking seagulls.
But you have to be quick as the eggs will hatch in no time at
all and attack the hut.
On this screen the sounds generated are excellent as you have
the sound of the sea washing in on the beach as well as the usual
sounds whenever you destroy anything.
And so past yet another riddle onto screen 5, which is a display
of a mountain canyon spanned by a bridge, in the middle of which
is a large cross.
Here you have to protect the cross from an array of objects.
You also have to fight the black prince, who is represented by
another figure the size of your wizard which is constantly attacking
you.
Your source of magical power is the cross, so when an attacking
object hits the cross the prince gains in strength.
You gain strength by destroying the objects but the prince can
do this as well.
You may attack the prince by striking him with your staff above
the height of his sword but, of course, he can do the reverse
to you and usually does so with more success.
All the time you are battling, your score and the prince's are
displayed on the bottom of the screen.
This is the only screen which displays your scores while you
are fighting, which is another minor criticism.
I found it exceedingly difficult, requiring the highest degree
of manual dexterity of any of the many games I have mastered.
After plucking up courage and a little bit of skill you can
take test 5. You then proceed onto the last riddle, which is the
conclusive part of the game.
When you have answered this riddle you go into the seance to
restore the crystals back to power.
Whether the seance is successful depends on your score and if
you won on screen 1 and 2.
If the seance is a success then the crystals are returned to
their original power and the forces of evil are left to roam the
earth until you attempt the game again.
All of the five screens are laid out in a visually pleasing
manner. This, coupled with the high standard of detail in all
the moving figures, provides each screen with a different, top
quality graphical layout.
The movement of all the figures is to a high standard, being
smooth and judder free even when numerous moving objects occupy
the screen at once.
The response of your own figure is smooth and responsive to
the keyboard controls.
The varied sounds generated are also pleasing, as they don't
drag on and on.
The riddles, however, prove to be tedious. Once you have read
or answered the puzzle, you don't want to keep seeing and answering
the same riddles on every game.
A score display while you are engaged in a game would have been
helpful. It proved rather frustrating not knowing how many points
you still required to progress further.
In conclusion I found Bridge to the East fairly compulsive and
quite a challenge, and well worth the money, as this novel idea
is like getting five games in one.
The answers to the riddles are in Figure
I.
Alice and Nigel
