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History of Computer Games. John E. Laird. EECS Department. Updated 9/7/05. Derived from The Ultimate Game Developer's Sourcebook.
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From the Editor... VOL. 2 NO. 4
This is the fifth issue of COM- JULY-AUGUST 1982
PUTER GAMING WORLD. From
the beginning CGW has sought to Features
provide a forum for the computer THE WARP FACTOR 6
gaming hobby and industry. We are Strategies for Winning Decisive Victories
very pleased with the response you RENDEZVOUS 7
A Space Shuttle Flight Simulation
have made thus far. From letters WE'RE IN THE MONEY 9
and responses to R.I.D. cards it is Economic Simulations For The Apple
apparent that we are providing a CONTROLLER: A REVIEW 12
needed service for thousands of com- Avalon Hill's Air Traffic Control Simulation
puter gamers. We try with each issue PURSUIT OF THE GRAF SPEE: A REVIEW 18
to add new features or twists which Strategic Simulations Naval Wargame
make CGW a better magazine. The STARSHIP COMMANDER: A REVIEW 20
basic information box, Reader Input A Space Combat "Simulation"
Device, Silicon Cerebrum, Atari ADVENTURES — CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN AND A HALF 22
Survey of THE CAPTAIN 80 BOOK OF BASIC ADVENTURES
Arcade, Real World Gaming, and HORSE RACING CLASSIC: A REVIEW 23
screen photos are just some of the A Horse Race Simulation
added features. We hope to add more SNEAK ATTACK ON KNIGHT OF DIAMONDS 23
as time goes along. An Unusual Approach to the Second Wizardry Scenario
DNIEPER RIVER LINE 28
For example, we will add more or "How Can You Be Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All?
pages as our advertising income CHOPLIFTER' 30
allows. When you buy a product Rescue the Hostages
which you saw in CGW tell the REAL WORLD GAMING 31
company you read about them in New Column by Dan Bunten
CGW. The effectiveness of advertising CASINO 33
is important to the manufacturers. DataMost's Card Game
They pay a lot more attention to Departments
your input than you might imagine. Letters 2
Hobby & Industry News 2
Continued on pg. 36 Initial Comments 5
Silicon Cerebrum 14
Atari Arcade 27
Micros 34
Reader Input Device 40
who think I might be kidding--I the Russian units are outflanked,
LETTERS checked on a friend's Apple II, and
all of the above-mentioned disks
booted.
they retreat, trying at all times to
maintain their lines of supply. This
latter is crucial to the Russian units.
My New Year's Resolution (which They cannot be beaten back during
I have kept until now) is: I won't buy the winter unless their strength is
programs that don't say they will diminished. And the only way their
run on my Apple III in emulation strength can be diminished is by
Dear Editor: mode (although I will buy programs cutting their supply lines.
As an Apple III owner, I have that will run in the Apple III native
Knowing this simple fact, the
found several problems in game mode). This means a loss of about
German player must find ways to
software designed for the Apple II. $2000 per year to the computer games
outflank the Russians. And he has
As many may know, the Apple III industry from me alone. So long
an excellent tool to use: his superior
can emulate an Apple II, but there Broderbund I hope you change
mobility.
are limitations. soon. I really enjoyed your games
while I could use them. My favorite The German player must forever
Until recently, the biggest limi- software company at the moment is be involved in end runs. He must
tation has been the lack of paddles. Picadilly--mostly because they have find clear sailing for his own units
Before the new FCC regulations, all an Apple III keyboard version on all while forcing the Russians to retreat
Apple II's were supplied with paddles, their games. across water and woods.
and almost all software manufac-
turers took advantage of this. Unfor- Deirdre L. Maloy High scores are possible using
tunately, for the first six months this strategy even without having to
that the Apple III was out, there destroy large numbers of Russian
were no paddles for them. There was MORE STRATEGY FOR units. The entire German army can
no easy way to use the paddles EASTERN FRONT be shifted north and begin a long
designed for the Apple II either. trek eastward (along the northern
Dear Editor;
Since then, a joystick has come out bank of the Volga) at about Christ-
for the Apple III, BUT it will only I am an Atari 800 owner and I was mas time, which--with some fighting
work in emulation mode IF the soft- glad to see your recent addition of a --will take the hard pressed German
ware manufacturer uses the standard regular Atari column to your maga- troops to the eastern edge of the
Apple paddle read write routines. To zine. I have also enjoyed your cover- board by March.
date, only one program, On-Line's age of Eastern Front--my favorite
A more realistic and satisfying
MISSILE DEFENSE, has worked. computer game.
tactic is, as Bob Proctor suggested,
This means I don't get to enjoy such Bob Proctor was clear and read- to ignore the game score and try to
classics as SPACE EGGS or RAST- able in "A Beginner's Guide to truly take Russia. This involves
ER BLASTER on my Apple III... ever. Strategy and Tactics in Eastern eliminating as many Russian units
More recently, Apple II programs Front" but his article did little more as possible. My best game has left a
have been coming out with keyboard than repeat Chris Crawford's own total of six red squares on the board--
versions. Usually, the keyboard ver- playing hints in the Eastern Front all surrounded and facing eminent
sions are more difficult to play (such player manual. To whit: surround destruction in April.
as Sirius' SNEAKERS -my favorite the Ruskies, don't try to march
Similar or better results can be
program, which makes them much through them.
accomplished by completing two
easier to play. Some software houses, Interested readers and dedicated crucial encirclements of the Russian
such as Picadilly, have several versions gameplayers are surely able to troops.
(Keyboard, Joystick, Paddles, Apple garner this information from the
III Keyboard) on one disk. The Apple player manual without Bob's helping The first, which must be completed
III Keyboard is also laid out differently, hand. Of more use (and more in- by September 28 (before the mud
thus causing some problems for the terest) might have been an article sets in), brings panzer units north-
uninitiated. dealing with grander strategies and ward from Kiev and the Pripet
The greatest threat lately has been tactics which are not immediately Marsh through the narrow gap
a change in software protection. Many obvious from reading the rules. between the Volga and Don Rivers.
of the newer programs have protection Once in firm position south of Moscow
The good game, like the good
schemes so sophisticated they fool and moving at all possible speed,
player, has a specific strategy to
my emulator. These programs do these units can stonewall the Rus-
which it tries to adhere. This game
not even boot--they just make nasty sian retreat from the German
"personality" in Eastern Front is
noises. I am naming names here-- infantry units pressing steadily east.
not very complicated, but it is ef-
Broederbund, IDSI', and Energy When successful, this plan destroys
fective. The German player must
Games. Broderbund used to be my all the Russian encampments in the
first discover what it is that the
favorite software house, but I refuse woods south of Rahev. Any re-
Russian units do, then develop an
to buy games from a company that maining Russian units will retreat
effective counter-strategy.
doesn't have programs that work on east of the Volga and will not be able
my computer (No Broderbund soft- Logically, if Crawford's own notes to return to the Moscow battlefield
ware later than APPLE PANIC in Eastern Front suggest surround- until the winter months. (Be sure to
will boot). My Christmas package ing the Russian units to destroy retreat the panzer units before
for my Apple was ruined by two them, then his program's strategy must October or they are likely to be
programs that wouldn't boot-TRICK be to keep those units from being bogged down and caught before the
SHOT (IDSI) and SANTA'S SLEIGH surrounded. This is indeed what winter ice frees their movement
RIDE (Energy Games). For those happens during the game. Whenever again.) Only a small holding force is
needed in the south around Dne- fensive placement clogs their ad-
propetrovsky--five or six infantry vances. Eventually this long white NOTICE TO ROBOTWAR
with the Hungarian panzer unit. line begins to swing south, like a ENTHUSIASTS
The second encirclement must be door on its hinges. The large red
carefully timed due to the annoying mass of Russian units is then pricked Robotwar enthusiasts will be
tank reinforcements the Russians by white and slowly shrinks...until glad to know that there is an
receive around Gorky. The Russians the door slams shut. organization being formed to
must be allowed to re-cross the Volga Good luck to all Eastern Front sponsor Robotwar tournaments
in order to slow their final retreat players and Computer Gaming on an ongoing basis. Frank
back toward the east. World. I look forward to more in- Krough of North Hollywood, Cali-
depth gaming articles and your fornia has formed a Robotwar
Given that the German player continued success. club for the purpose of holding
controls the line from Smolensk to local and postal Robotwar tour-
Ed. — Thank you for some ex- naments. If you live in the South-
Moscow to just west of Gorky by
cellent strategic suggestions for ern California area you may want
winter, then an east-west line should
Eastern Front. Your letter seems to to get directly involved with the
be held no further north than Rahev.
indicate, however, that you did not local tournaments. For those of
The Russians will push north through
take note of the title of Bob's article you that live elsewhere, check out
the woods east of Smolensk and
or the explicit statement in the third the postal Robotwar tournaments
west across the Volga toward
paragraph of the article; to wit-- Frank's group will be running.
Moscow.
"This article is written for those
While the Russians are on the of you with little or no wargaming Entry fee for a tournament will
offensive, the German player must experience." Many of our Atari be $4.00 which will cover handling
run to the far north with his panzer readers indicate that the article was charges and prizes. Tournaments
units and whatever infantry is not helpful to them even with a good will be classified as either novice,
needed in defense. (Some can be sent deal of wargaming experience. I master, or champion. If you want
to take Leningrad.) These units then found the article of help to me more information drop Frank a
rush east and cross the Volga just (beyond what was offered in the note:
east of Gorky--or perhaps even as far rulebook). None-the-less your stra- Frank Krogh
east as Kazan--and move south. Once tegic suggestions are appreciated P.O. Box 5337
they reach the open Russian plain, and I know will be of interest to our North Hollywood, CA 91616
they will cut off supplies for the readers.
Russian counter attack forces around
Moscow. The German units which
were previously shaky in defense
will be able to press attacks with no
fear.
If the German player can also
bring his southern force and re-
inforcements to bear on the Russians
southern flank, then the entire
Russian army will begin to shrink
and disappear inside the white circle.
Alternatively, these latter German
units can press east and take Stalin-
grad. But obliterating the Russians is
much more fun than taking a
featureless city.
This second encirclement proce-
dure is satisfying but tricky. The
Russians will desperately attempt
to break through the German armor
and, once out of the trap, they have
an excellent chance to remain at bay
until the end of the game. There are
also a few Russian reinforcements
(cavalry particularly) which arrive
at the eastern edge of the board and
must be drawn westward toward
death.
A picture to keep in mind is the
white German units strung out from
west to east north of the Volga--the
panzers in front, the infantry lagging
behind. The red Russian units press
north to attempt to break this
extending line, but the Volga slows
their movement and effective de-
Model I/III entitled MYSTERIOUS
HOBBY AND ADVENTURERS. Written by a
Automated Simulations has re-
leased several new titles for the Atari
INDUSTRY NEWS chap in England the series makes
use of "proper English". The first
400/800 computer. ALIEN GARDEN
is an arcade game available on ROM
release in the series is ARROW OF cartridge ($39.95). Four new releases
Avalon Hill has announced that DEATH PT. 1. in the adventure game area by Auto-
they will begin developing game
mated are mentioned in this issue's
cartridges for the ATARI VCS and
JON FREEMAN and ANNE installment of Atari Arcade.
MATTEL INTELLIVISION game
systems. WESTFALL have left Automated
Simulations to form FREE FALL Strategic Simulations will be re-
Program Design of Greenwich, ASSOCIATES, a game design and leasing GALACTIC GLADIATORS
Connecticut has released MOON- development firm. Jon's credentials (Computer Ambush in space) in Late
BASE I0 and STARSHIP DUEL include Rescue at Rigel; Crush, June or early July. GG features
for the Atari 400/800. MI combines Crumble, & Chomp; The Playboy individual combat, maps, scenario
an arcade/adventure format with a Winner's Guide to Board Games designing routines. Speaking of COM-
voice narration. Game consists of (book); and The Complete Book of PUTER AMBUSH, the long pro
disk and voice cassette. SD is a Wargames (book). Jon was a co- mised updated version is on tem-
cassette game of starship combat. founder of Automated Simulations. porary hold. They hope for a fall
Hayden Book Company (50 Essex Anne's background includes exten- release but winter is more likely.
St., Rochelle Park, NJ 07662) an- sive experience in the programming GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN is
nounces the release of TETRAD, a field from business to game applica- now slated for a middle of July
four-level Tic-Tac-Toe game for the tions. She was formerly the Senior release. An improved WARP FAC-
Apple II, and TRS-80 GALAXY Software Engineer at Automated TOR will be released for the IBM PC
OF GAMES, which includes four Simulations. FREE FALL can be in middle July. The IBM version will
games for the TRS-80 computer (level reached at 3888 Corina Way, Palo feature graphic display of combat.
II 16K). The four games are Hang- Alto, CA 94303. The computer opponent in the IBM
man, One Arm Bandit, Skunk, version will be three times faster
Jacks. Computerware (Box 668 Encinitas, than the Apple version.
Ca 92024) has released STARSHIP
Acorn Software (634 North Carolina CHAMELEON for the Radio Shack The Apple version of CYTRON
Ave., S.E., Washington D.C. 20003) Color Computer (disk or cassette, MASTERS should be out by the
announces a series of machine 16K required. SC is a space combat time you read this. The Atari version
language adventures for the TRS-80 game in which the player controlling of CM should be out in August or
the starship Chameleon protects a September. Paul Murray's new space
planet from an aerial attack of enemy combat game THE COSMIC
invaders ($29.95). BALANCE (or "Son of Warp
Factor") will be out in mid-July for
The Liberty Software Co. (635 In- the Apple. SSI hopes to have the
dependence Av. S.E., Washington, Atari version available at the same
D.C., 20003) has released MEDIEVAL time, otherwise look for the Atari
MAGIC, a new adventure game for version at the end of summer. TCB
the TRS-80 Model I/III. MM was will be a joined later by a strategic
written "especially as an introduc- space game in which TCB will be
tion to the adventure format of game used to fight tactical battles gener-
playing". ated by the strategic game.
INITIAL Data Most
9748 Cozycroft Ave.
The New American Library
1633 Broadway
Chatsworth, CA 91311 New York, NY 10019
COMMENTS
BUYING AND BEATING THE
WORLD SERIES BASEBALL: HOME VIDEO GAMES: A thick
In addition to games mentioned This is the old Programma Base- paperback (676 pages) filled with
elsewhere in this issue the following ball game that first came out interesting information on the home
games have been received by CGW. back in 1979. The game is the video game field. The book
Most but not all of these games will same even down to the same color- includes: tips and strategies on
receive more detailed attention in ful introductory sequence which more than 200 games; descriptions
future issues. includes a redention of "Take me and analysis of five home video
out to the ball game". It is still a systems (Atari VCS, Intellivision,
very good "beer-and-pretzels" Odyssey, Astrocade, Fairchild
Muse Software baseball game. Written by Charles Channel F); playability ratings
347 North Charles St. Sullivan Jr. and skill levels. This SIGNET
Baltimore, MD 21201 paperback sells for $3.95 and is
worth checking out.
SUPER TEXT 40/80 COLUMN Synergistic Software
DISPLAY: SUPER TEXT 40/80 830 N. Riverside Dr. Suite 201
is a new and better version of Broderbund Software
Renton, WA 98055
Muse's popular SUPER TEXT II 1938 Fourth St.
word processor. Features of the San Rafael, CA 94901
NIGHTMARE GALLERY: NG
new package include: 40 or 80 has a lot of the flavor of the
column display; page headers and popular coin-op game CENTIPEDE.
DUELING DIGITS: Here is an
footers; user definable key; type- Various creatures parade up, down,
educational game that makes use
ahead buffer; counter occurrences and across the screen as you
of hi-res graphics and can be
of words/phrases; display of attempt to shoot them. If you like
played by anyone who can add
available disk space; split screen; Centipede or Cavalier's BUG
1+1. It is interesting as a com-
multi-file find and replace; and ATTACK you'll like NIGHTMARE
petitive game and can help teach
others. We look forward to using GALLERY. The sound effects
younger persons basic math
SUPER TEXT 40/80 as our include an amazingly realistic
skills. One or two can play, but
regular word processor at CGW "scream".
solitaire play is only a shadow of
as soon as we get an 80 column
board.
the two player game. Continued on pg. 39
FIREBUG: A game of arson.
Although the fiction of the game
is regrettable, this is one of the
better low-res graphic games
available for the Apple. In FIRE-
BUG you go around dropping gas
cans in order to spread the fire
being fueled by a fuse which
follows you. If you don't move
fast enough the fuse will catch up
and you'll "make an ash" out of
yourself. Can be played with key-
board control or a joystick.
Data Soft Inc.
19519 Business Center Dr.
Northridge, CA 91324
TEXT WIZARD: TW is a word
processor for the Atari 400/800.
Using 50 different commands
Text Wizard can do all the normal
features of a word processor (such
as insert, delete, replace, search,
reposition, etc.). Additionally TW
can print multi-copies, use multiple
type lettering (bold, elongated,
condensed, normal) and provide
for proportional spacing of the
document. Documentation is clear
and easy to follow. TEXT WIZARD
is CGW's Atari 800 word processor.
THE WARP FACTOR: by William
Strategies for Winning Decisive Victories Edmunds
when compared to the Klarson Another way to victory is to take
BASIC INFORMATION Cruiser. The Klarson has four dis- advantage of the enemy's weakness.
ruptor bolts that can fire every turn In developing our strategy we must
NAME: The Warp Factor
while the Alliance ship has four understand how the enemy operates.
TYPE: Tactical Space
photon torpedoes that can only fire You can get a good idea on some of
Wargame
every other turn. It's true the photon the tactics the program uses by read-
SYSTEM: Apple II, IBM PC (July) —
torpedoes have twice the destructive ing the Operations Manual. One
IBM 64k C or B/W (July)
power of the disruptors but they such tactic, taken from the manual,
FORMAT: Diskette r j
require four times as much energy to is to "maximize your firepower". This
# PLAYERS: 1 or 2
charge and I don't believe they are means to coordinate as many wea-
AUTHOR: Paul Murray &
as accurate when fired. The Klarson pons as possible to fire in the short-
Bruce Clayton
can turn faster which makes it more est possible time at the shortest pos-
PRICE: 539.95
maneuverable. They also have sible distance. This is a good
PUBLISHER: Strategic Simulations Inc.
drones which can reek havoc on concept but the program often fol-
456 Fairchild Or.,
your shield protection. And finally, lows this rule to the extreme. If you
Suite 108
the Klarson ships have more trans- are attacking with a fleet of fighters,
Mountain View. CA.
porters than the comparable Alli- the computer will train all its phasers
94043
ance version. This makes it very on the lead ship and use the "last
difficult to capture the Klarson even instant" command for firing. Sup-
in the best of circumstances because pose these fighters are attacking a
you can't get enough marines aboard Starbase. Now the Starbase has
the vessel. enough fire power to destroy the
If you are like me the first time you
Captured ships are worth twice as fleet in a single turn but it would
played THE WARP FACTOR you
many victory points as destroyed take the computer one turn for each
chose an Alliance Cruiser, which
ships. But capturing ships is much ship. Because the computer cannot
you named Enterprise, with the
more difficult than destroying them. distinguish a case of overkill, you
intention of destroying a Klarson
have the ability to sacrifice one ship,
starship. But after being smacked As a result, you should design your
or use it as a decoy, while the rest of
left and right by drones and stung scenarios such that they allow you
the fleet attacks the enemy with
time and again by disruptor bolts to destroy the enemy ships while
little fear of being fired upon. This is
and phasers your shields began to still scoring a decisive victory (i.e.
scoring a large number of victory the most valuable strategy you have
fail with many weapons being put
for fleet operations and will be de-
out of action until, eventually, the points). In order to do this you should
give the computer a ship or fleet monstrated in a number of the
Enterprise was destroyed.
scenarios at the end of this discussion.
with a total point value that is fifty
I think I played that scenario percent greater than your own. This If you have only one ship then it is
another four times before I finally
may sound like an invitation to going to be the object of this max-
destroyed that nasty Gorm, and my
disaster but need not be if the match- imized fire power with nowhere to
ship was so chewed up that I only ups are well thought out. The point hide. Normally, the computer rein-
achieved a draw. The fact that the
values assigned to various ships are forces and tries to keep its forward
computer plays a very good defen- not always accurate. I've already shield facing your ship as long as
sive strategy, coupled with a few
shown you that the Cruisers are not possible. If you are trying to man-
other factors makes it extremely
really equal. euver around to one side, it will turn
difficult to score a decisive victory in
An Imperial Raider is worth two in that direction thus making it
this scenario. But the computer as
difficult for you to get a good shot
an opponent does have weaknesses points and a Klarson Cruiser, six. If
without risking a good retaliatory
which we are going to discuss, along you put a Cruiser against three
blow. The way the computer deter-
with a few strategies that will ex- Imperial ships the computer would
mines your course of action is to
ploit these weaknesses. By using consider the match even. The Imper-
examine your position, heading and
these strategies you will be able to ial ships each have one disrupter
speed at the end of a turn. You
win a decisive victory in most any bolt and two light phasers. As a fleet
telegraph your intentions every turn
scenario you want to devise. they have three disrupters against
by your final position. By sending
*** the Cruisers four, six light phasers
versus nine, three unit shields false signals at the end of a turn, you
can fool the computer into turning
So why is it so difficult to score a against the Cruiser's average shield
one way while you go the other once
decisive victory against a Klarson strength of twenty, and the Cruiser
also has drones which the Raiders the next turn starts. Once you leave
Cruiser? First the Starship Point
the arc of his facing shield, his
Values are unbalanced, and there- do not. The Klarson side would win
weapons will fire and you are then
fore the scoring system is invalid. without a struggle. You could double
free to move in close and fire on an
Both Cruisers have a point value of the number of Raiders and the
unreinforced shield. This ability to
six. In games where both sides are Cruiser would still have the game. I
decoy the enemy ship will prove
about even, the only way to score a consider this scenario to be the ulti-
most valuable in single ship en-
decisive victory is to capture the mate mismatch and it demonstrates
counters such as a Cruiser versus a
enemy ships while sustaining little that by taking the best ships for the
Dreadnought.
or no damage to your own. And it is points allowed, you can overcome at
very difficult to do that since the least some of the enemy's mathe- Your basic tactical objective is to
Alliance Cruiser is an inferior ship matical edge. destroy a shield so you can damage
RENDEZVOUS: A Space Shuttle Simulator
by Stanley Greenlaw
BASIC INFORMATION mediate vicinity of the station. Once engine burn to rendezvous with the
the shuttle is within two kilometers station (i.e. inside the station's orbit
NAME: Rendezvous
of the station, the program will and slightly behind the station.
TYPE: Space Flight Simulation
SYSTEM: Apple 11148K)
switch to the Alignment and Docking After you get the shuttle close
phase. In this final phase the player enough to the station to enter the
FORMAT: Disk
1
attempts to dock the shuttle in a Approach and Docking mode, you
# PLAYERS:
large landing bay. will be required to use either a joy-
AUTHOR: Dr. Wes Huntress (JPL)
PRICE: $39.95 stick or keyboard controls to make
The Earth Liftoff phase challenges
PUBLISHER: Edu-Ware Services your approach and docking. The key
the player to attain the minimum
P.O. Box 22222 to success from here on is practice,
orbit configurations using only the practice, practice. Fortunately the
Agoura. CA 91301 fuel in the solid fuel boosters and program allows you to save your
external fuel tank. Any use of fuel position so that you can return for
Sub Logic's FLIGHT SIMU- from the fuel tanks onboard the another approach in case your prior
LATOR (see May-June 1982 issue shuttle proper takes away from criti- attempt ends tragically.
of CGW) and Muse's THREE MILE cally needed maneuverability in the
ISLAND must make room for other segments. A successful partial The graphics and documentation
another outstanding example of a orbit can be achieved in the following are very good. I would have preferred
simulator for a microcomputer. manner: At about 15 seconds into a better rulebook illustration of the
RENDEZVOUS, by Edu-Ware is a the flight begin tipping the nose of joystick controls, but with a little
well designed simulation of a space the shuttle off the horizontal, steadily practice you can figure it out. The
shuttle flight and space station reduce the angle so that the shuttle direction finder (available in the
rendezvous and docking. From launch is on a 30 degree angle when the approach sequence) faces the wrong
to docking the gamer/student must solid fuel boosters jettison. Continue direction for my tastes. It's purpose
learn how to make use of basic to reduce the angle until the shuttle is to show the relative location of the
physics to orbit, rendezvous, and is only 15 degrees above horizontal. station when not visible out the
maneuver his shuttle close enough If you leave the shuttle at 15 degrees, shuttle window. The problem is that
to dock the shuttle with an orbiting a partial orbit will be achieved and the direction finder is orientated in
space station. the program will switch to the such a way that the simulated shuttle
Orbital Rendezvous. in the "finder" is aimed at the viewer
The simulation is structured into rather than along the line of sight of
four segments, each of which can be The Orbital Rendezvous requires the viewer. In other words as you
"played" separately as a stand alone a series of trial and error attempts at look at the range finder, the shuttle
exercise or in sequence to simulate getting the shuttle's orbit to cross is coming at the player thus reversing
the flight from launch to docking. the station's orbit at the same time "right" and "left". Flying "reverse"
The first segment, Earth Liftoff, that the two crafts pass the inter- controls should be left to the remote
involves launching the shuttle into section. If you blast off at zero control flying hobbyists.
a partial orbit. Arbitrary parameters seconds on the mission clock in the RENDEZVOUS is educational
of 191 kilometers altitude and 7800 Earth Liftoff mode you will find the while being entertaining. Teachers
Meters per second horizontal speed shuttle reaching orbit "ahead" of will find it a valuable teaching tool
must be obtained to cause the program the station. You must either slow in the areas of General Science, Earth
to transit to the second segment, down (with the threat of plunging in Science, and Physics. As entertain-
Orbital Rendezvous. The initial orbit the atmosphere) or adopt an orbit ment the simulation will appeal to
path set up by the liftoff must first inside the station's orbit (i.e. less gamers who enjoy mental challenges
be adjusted to an orbit path that than 1.50 earth radii) and patiently (such as those involved in setting up
won't carry the shuttle back into the wait for the shuttle to accomplish the orbital rendezvous) as well as to
atmosphere. Then the player must, the several orbits necessary to "catch gamers who enjoy hand-eye co-ordi-
through one or usually two engine up" to the station. You may find it nation challenges (such as will be
firing sequences bring the shuttle easier simply to wait for 30 seconds faced in the approach and docking
into close proximity of the space to pass on the mission clock before segments). RENDEZVOUS is a
station. At this point the player lifting off. This will most likely put welcome addition to the educational
must make an approach to the im- you in a desirable position for an and entertainment software field.
the ship and knock out its weapons. shields next to it and turn it toward a heading of 030 degrees. Launch a
If you are using photon torpedoes the enemy before he can fire. type one drone on this and the next
don't get too close before you fire turn.
Here are a couple of important
them. If you get within 2Mk. of the
technical observations that you The Dreadnought will assume
target they become ineffective and you're going to try and move up on
should remember. First, when firing
you are left with only your phasers. its right side. In the next turn it will
weapons using the last instant op-
It is better to fire your torpedoes and continue to move toward you and
tion, the weapon must be capable of
phasers as close as possible without turn slowly to the right in an effort
firing through the facing shield at
running the danger of coming with-
the start of the turn. If you are to keep its forward shield facing
in 2Mk. of your target. you. Set your speed for 20 Mk., over-
commanding a Dreadnought and
In using drones, unless you can your target is facing shield two, you charge your disruptor bolts and
create a drone swarm, never count cannot fire your siege phaser the energize your transporters. Turn
on them to destroy a specific shield. last instant even if you turn and right to 090 for four time points and
Drones are unpredictable due to move toward the target. Second, the then start turning back toward the
movement of the target and elec- phaser field of fire for the Alliance Dreadnought. You want to cross
tronic counter measures. They sel- and Klarson Cruisers are inaccurate- directly in front of the Dreadnought
dom hit the shield you want or ex- ly depicted on the Starship Data at a range of 8 to 10 Mk. with a
pect. A drone can best be used to Cards. This can be most trouble- heading of about 330. Once you
soften the target by knocking out some when entering firing com- achieve this continue turning left
any general shield support. In this mands. I've constructed a chart to for the remainder of the turn. Set
way it is not important which shield cross reference the phasers with the your disruptors and phasers to fire
it hits and it increases the efficiency shields. By reading across you can at a range of 3 Mk.
of your main weapons. see through which shields a phaser
The Dreadnought's phasers will
will fire and by selecting a shield
I believe one of the most impor- fire when you leave its facing shield.
and reading down determine which
tant tactical weapons you have, and You should still be more than 10 Mk.
phasers will fire through that shield. away at this point and your shields
one the computer never uses, are
your boarding parties. I cannot will absorb the damage. Your main
overstress the importance of allo- blow will hit the Dreadnought in
cating energy to your transporters. shield 5 or 6 at a range of 3 Mk. This
When attacking a larger ship you will do sufficient damage to get your
can do enough damage in one turn boarding parties aboard and knock
to knock out a shield but you will not out many of its weapons.
normally be able to cripple its wea- On the next turn, hold your posi-
pons. However boarding parties can tion and fire all your weapons in an
sabotage a ship's weapons and make effort to destroy another shield and
it possible for you to attack again on get more boarding parties transport-
the next turn without sustaining a ed. The Dreadnought probably won't
lot of damage yourself. How much move on this turn so next turn you
damage they do will depend on their may be able to shoot at the same
number and the level of damage shield. Continue destroying shields
already inflicted. This is because the and transporting boarding parties
Marines aboard the enemy vessel until the Dreadnought is destroyed.
will resist yours. But one of the first
areas to receive casualties are the An interesting variation to this
Marines. So the more damage you scenario is to use a Klarson Dread-
inflict, the more damage your board- nought and give the computer two
ing parties can do. Alliance Cruisers. You'll need a
little more speed on the first turn
If you are already in close to a and more moderate turns on the
target and want to fire your wea- second Launch type two drones at
pons on the first time point use the
the second Cruiser while attacking
range command with a range great- the lead ship. With eight transpor-
er than the range to the target. If you ters you have a good chance of
use the time command and the wea- capturing a Cruiser.
pon in question will not fire through SCENARIOS
the facing shield, then that weapon Freighter and Fighter vs. three
Here are some scenarios which if
will not fire at all during the turn. By Imperial Raiders
executed property against a com-
using the range command, the wea- puter controlled opponent will result This is a short game but you can
pon can still fire if you change make it more challenging by giving
in decisive victories.
course or the enemy should move in the computer a fourth Raider. You
such a way that would bring the Cruiser vs. Dreadnought
will use the Freighter with its larger
weapon to bear. This is especially In this game you will use the shields as a screen for the Fighter.
important if you are going to sit and decoy tactic along with the Klarson's
spin your ship because the program On the first turn move your Freight-
maneuverability to strike a Dread- er straight at the enemy at a speed of
moves the ships first and then nought in the flank and cripple it.
checks to fire weapons. This brings 11 Mk. You don't want to decoy on
up an important defensive tactic. If In the first turn set your speed at this turn because your drones will
you had a shield badly damaged or 12 to 14Mk . Move straight at the have a better chance of hitting if the
destroyed at the end of the last turn, Dreadnought for twelve time points
you can usually reinforce one of the and then turn and finish the turn on Continued on pg. 37
WE'RE IN THE MONEY...
Economic Simulations For The Apple
by Bob Proctor
BASIC INFORMATION
day activity and one which simulates year-to-year
NAME: Computer Stocks And Bonds Wall Street decisions.
TYPE: Stock Market game Stock Market game
SYSTEM: Apple. Atari. Pet. TRS-80. IBM Apple II or Apple II+ COMPUTER STOCKS AND BONDS
FORMAT: Diskette (also on tape) Diskette
# PLAYERS: 1 to 6 1 to 9 In COMPUTER STOCKS AND BONDS, each
AUTHOR: Bob Garman Donald Brown turn represents a year; a game being ten turns
PRICE: $25.00 ($20 on tape) $24.95 long (figure about 30 minutes to play with 3 or 4
PUBLISHER: Avalon Hill CE Software people). You can't borrow or "leverage" (lever-
4517 Harford Rd. 801 73rd Street
Battimore, MD 21214 Des Moines, IA 50312
aging is buying something with funds that don't
(301) 254-5300 (515) 224-1992 belong to you) in any way. You have a choice of
nine stocks and one bond. The bond pays a simple
5% dividend, so that if you invest everything in
NAME: Cartels & Cutthroats Conglomerates Collide bonds you'll turn your initial $5000 into $7900 --
TYPE: Business game Business game
Apple II or Apple II+
with no risk! In effect, the bonds are just like a
SYSTEM: Apple II or Apple II+
FORMAT: Diskette Diskette savings account. If you can't do better than this
# PLAYERS: 1 to 6 1 to 4 then it is a mistake to buy stocks. This lesson, that
AUTHOR: Dan Bunten Mason, Mayne. Siegling additional risk should pay additional dividends, is
PRICE: $39.95 $39.95 the basic lesson to be learned in the game.
PUBLISHER: Strategic Simulations Inc. RockRoy
465 Fairchild Dr., Suite 108 7721 E. Gray Rd. The nine stocks are hypothetical companies and
Mountain View, CA 94043 Scottsdale. AZ 85260 represent a cross-section of different stock types.
There is a growth stock which can usually be
The four games reviewed here fall into two expected to go up but pays very low dividends.
groups. There are two stock market games, where There are risky stocks which offer "high" divi-
each player is an investor, and two business dends -- as much as 7%. There are speculative
games where each player is the President of a stocks that offer no dividends at all but may
company. double (or halve) their value in a single year.
Stock market games are easy to understand Dividend ratios, growth potential, and risk are the
because they're based on the well known axiom, major factors to consider when you are going to
"Buy low, sell high." Invariably, the number of hang on to stocks for a year or more. However, an
stocks, bonds and other investments available are important aspect of long-term investing is absent;
much smaller than in real life. Here we have two there is no information about the economic cli-
well done games; one of which simulates day-to- mate that would give you a way of judging which
stocks will be best. Plausible reasons are given for tips can cost more than they're worth.
very large gains and losses but these are after the Even if you could buy a large block of stock, it
fact: winning is largely a matter of luck. Two would certainly attract the attention of the other
factors make this game unique: it is the only one of players. The order of play is set randomly by the
the four available for computers other than the computer so if you happen to be first then everyone
Apple and it is the only one which needs only 32K else can copy you and cash in on your tip without
of RAM (instead of 48K). having to pay for it. This means that if you have to
WALL STREET play before your rivals, it might be better not to
reveal what you know (but you still must pay for
In this game, each turn represents a single day
the information). Another type of player inter-
instead of a year. Five turns make a week and a
action concerns breaking codes. Each player's tips
game lasts one or more weeks. There are no
are delivered by means of a 4 to 5-digit number
dividends here and no other forms of investment
which is decoded with a "secret" number chosen
for comparison; just day-to-day trading in com-
by the player. This code is not hard to crack,
mon stock. However, there are broker's fees when-
particularly when you can see which stocks the
ever you buy or sell and there are interest payments
player is buying and selling, so the wise player
on any money you borrow. The interest rate is
will change their secret number occasionally -- it
about 20% per year, so the game feels very contem-
can be done at the end of any week.
porary. You are also allowed to sell short, which
means selling stock you don't have (yet), hoping I don't think this game is realistic -- IBM won't
that the price will fall before you have to deliver it. go bankrupt in 2 weeks and real tips are free and
unreliable rather than expensive and 100% reli-
There are 30 stocks from which to choose; all
able -- but the player interaction makes WALL
real companies, most of which are actually listed
STREET the most interesting stock market game
on the NYSE. They are grouped into six indus-
yet.
tries: computers, entertainment, oil, automobiles,
retail, and appliance manufacturers. As with the CONGLOMERATES COLLIDE
real market, certain industries may show promi-
nent trends, though individual stocks in that We now move from the world of private inves-
group may not follow them. Whereas I have yet to tors to the world of corporations. In CONGLOM-
see a company go bankrupt in STOCKS AND ERATES COLLIDE, you are an executive of a
BONDS, it is a distinct possibility in WALL large corporation. You are trying to expand your
STREET: IBM and GM seem as likely to go under company by buying up other companies. There are
as anybody else. All of your choices, then, are always 20 companies to be bought, of varying size
equally risky. You must "play" the market, specu- and profitability, and when they're gone the game
lating on the daily fluctuations (somewhat exag- is over. Basically, it is a very simple game. You
gerated) of the market. must expand to win, but there are varying levels of
risk to choose from. Low risk means slow growth;
What makes WALL STREET unique is your high risk (heavy borrowing and even selling some
ability to buy information about the market. of your stock in your own company for extra cash)
Knowing what will happen to a particular stock or means faster growth. Which strategy is best de-
industry group on a given day can help you to a pends upon interest rates, stock prices and timing.
quick fortune or avoid a catastrophic loss. There The first two fluctuate wildly and unpredictably.
are six levels of information in the game. The One would expect the characteristics of the 20
lowest costs nothing and provides nothing. The companies to change too, but they remain con-
next costs $10 per week and gives you (according stant throughout the game.
to the 8-page rulebook) a 10% chance of getting a
tip about any given event. In game terms, this There are three ways to play this game: two are
means into one tip every 6 weeks or so. Each solitaire and one is with one to three other people.
higher level costs 5 times as much as the next Playing by yourself, you can either see how much
lower and gives you an additional 10% chance. you can expand in 15 turns or you can play the
Thus the highest, level 5, costs $6250 per week and multi-player game against two opponents control-
gives you a 50% chance. At best, then, there's half led by the computer. In all versions, the record
a chance that you won't know about an event high score is kept on the disk.
ahead of time. To give you perspective, let's say My greatest complaint with CONGLOMER-
that the most common event, a 10% change one ATES COLLIDE is that the computer-controlled
way or the other, will occur to a stock that costs $50 players apparently get extra help. They get enough
per share. In order to pay for the cost of infor- cash every few turns so that you (or I) haven't a
mation, you'd have to have 1250 shares of it -- prayer of winning. Since their books can't be
$62,500 worth! It's not likely you'd have this much inspected, it's hard to say whether this is a
unless it were late in a long game; in other words, program bug or a deliberate attempt to make
things "challenging." The other versions are the game is enjoyable either way. At the end of
error-free, but CONGLOMERATES COLLIDE is each year, an annual report shows the current
only moderately interesting. It does have flashy standings of all companies.
graphics but these are not important to the play of Any number of strategies may win but a good
the game. CARTELS & CUTTHROATS player, like a good
manager, will always be aware of what the com-
CARTELS & CUTTHROATS petition is doing. If you start to lose market share
This game is the best of the four reviewed here because ABC lowered their price, should you 1)
and one of the best available for the Apple. It is the drop yours to match; 2) cut back on production but
most realistic, the most educational, and the most keep your price up; or 3) gear up for ABC's share
fun -- even my 11-year old son thinks so! Each after they go out of business? There is much player
player is the President of a small manufacturing interaction, even in the closed game. Unlike
company; all of which just happen to make the CARTELS & CUTTHROATS, the computer-con-
same product. They start out with identical re- trolled players are absolutely fair. They play a
sources and the winner is the player who amasses reasonable game, each with a different strategy,
the most total income over the game. Each turn is and are challenging to the beginner. As your skill
a quarter year and the players agree how long the increases, you'll find they are not too aggressive
game will be beforehand. To give time for player and can be beaten easily.
interaction to develop, the game length should be The documentation is excellent. The fifteen
at least eight turns, which takes about two hours. page rulebook explains the rules clearly; giving
It is possible to quit at any point if you need to stop you an understanding of what is happening and
at a certain time. CARTELS & CUTTHROATS includes strategy tips. There is enough infor-
can be played solitaire as the computer will play mation here to qualify this game as an intro-
one to five "hands"; you can also have a four- ductory course for Micro-economics; in fact, at a
handed game with two people or some other recent seminar, CARTELS & CUTTHROATS was
combination. The game can be "open", where shown as an example of Computer-Assisted In-
everyone sees what everybody else is doing, or it struction. Don't let that fool you; it's a great game!
can be "closed", where each player plans secretly.
There is also an option which lets you print every-
thing on a printer, ideal for classroom use.
Each turn, you must decide how much raw
material to buy, how much of your product you
want to manufacture, at what price you will sell it,
how much you will spend upon research and upon
advertising. The computer determines the total
demand for the product from general economic
factors (which are predicted for you, roughly, a
turn ahead) and sales for each firm are calculated.
The public may favor the company with the lowest
price, the best product, or the most advertising
--this will depend on whether the product is a
luxury, a necessity or a little of both. If demand is
high, everyone may be able to sell all they can
make, but if times get hard, the poorly-managed
firms will find themselves losing money.
The players may expand their companies by
buying new factories, can (and sometimes must!)
stockpile raw materials in case of shortages or
strikes, and must try to keep labor and production
costs within reason or they will eat up profits. The
results are presented each turn in the form of a set
of realistic financial reports: profit & loss, balance
sheet, inventory levels and a market summary to
show you how you stack up against the others.
There are also occasional memos and letters about
research breakthroughs, labor disputes, and re-
quests from charities. You can go over these
reports in depth or skim them for the essentials;
BASIC INFORMATION
NAME: Controller
TYPE: Real Time Simulation
SYSTEM: Atari with 32K
FORMAT: Disk
# PLAYERS: One
AUTHOR: Frank D. Kelley
& William Volk
PRICE: $30
PUBLISHER: Avalon Hill Game Co.
4517 Harford Road
Baltimore. MD. 21214
301-254-5300
Remember the movie Airplane? Picture the scene
in the control tower exploding with complete
confusion, the controller with mike in hand shouting
out instructions to the pilot, all culminating with a
747 through the window. I felt just like the con-
troller in Airport the first few times I tried my
hand at Avalon Hill's CONTROLLER.
As the name implies, you, as the controller, take
on the awesome task of safely guiding in eight
aircraft before they crash, run out of fuel, or
simply fly away (presumably to find safer facili-
ties). This is a fine example of a game which runs
in real time, but which has the sophistication of a
complex simulation. Unlike most simulations
written in basic, the computer does not just sit and
wait for you to input your next command. If you're
busy thinking, it's busy flying the eight planes.
I've sat looking at the radar scope, frozen with
indecision, getting more and more flustered as
plane after plane crashes, flys away, or shoots
right off the runway.
The disk is self-booting and, after a short wait,
asks you the number of planes you'd like to control
(1 to 8). You then select the type of planes. The
three choices are;
a) Light plane: slow, maneuverable
b) Jet liner: fast, ponderous
cme)diuPrspva,tjo:nl
Each type has it's unique characteristics of min
and max speed, rate of turn and climb, ceiling, and
fuel usage. All of these must be considered in order
to successfully issue commands to the pilots.
Once you've picked your airplanes, the game
starts. You're presented with a regularly updated
table on the left side of the screen which gives the
current heading, altitude, and velocity for each of
the eight planes. To the right is a radar scope
showing the location of each plane in relation to
slow them all down to minimum speed to give me
more time to think and to conserve fuel, and then
to stratify all planes to altitudes that will prohibit
collision. I then work on landing the closest to the
field. This simple system does not take into account
who is lowest on fuel, arranging not to have two or
more planes arriving at the same time, or who is
closest or farthest from the field. I have, using this
method, been able to land six planes this way,
three light and three jetliners. My two private
planes ran out of fuel.
CONTROLLER is certainly a challenge. The
closest analogy to the control process in this
original game might be lunar lander in the way
you must plan the effects of your commands in
order to achieve the right results. However, CON-
the control tower and two landing strips. This
TROLLER adds seven more landings not to
mention one more dimension. This game requires
scope has two scales (10 and 100 mile radius)
you to learn the aircraft involved and develop
which can be toggled between by entering "S". At
processes to safely land them. After four long
the bottom of the screen is data on a specific plane
nights I could only land six planes (my average is
you have selected. This includes fuel left, last
four). At 10 to 35 minutes a game, getting CON-
heading command, last altitude command, and
TROLLER down pat may take a very long time. I
bearing and range from the control tower.
would recommend CONTROLLER to those who
In order to land an airplane it must be on the would like a "thinking" game that doesn't let you
approach markers, have correct heading, be slow dawdle around moving planes like chessmen. The
enough, and be low enough. You achieve this by arcade player, however, may be disappointed with
giving each pilot instructions on altitude "A", the slow (real time) action of the game.
heading "C", and velocity "V". Of course the time
There are two items I would like to see in-
it takes for each of these to occur depends on the
vestigated on future releases. The first is the real
characteristics of the individual plane.
time command entry. All Basic programmers
But, it's not as simple as that. If two planes are know the problem of stopping a program to service
too close, you run the risk of mid-air collision. If the players keyboard input when we'd rather be
you neglect a plane that is flying away from the computing away. This can be solved if Basic looks
tower it will fly away and you will loose contact. at the keyboard and only stops to process an entry
And finally, the toughest problem is running out if one has occurred. With CONTROLLER, if you
of fuel. For example, if you make a private jet take input your commands too fast (when the program
two passes before it lands it's very likely it will run isn't ready for them) some of the entry may be lost.
out of fuel. This can be frustrating with the tension of four or
The approach I've adopted is to go through all five planes all vying for the same landing strip
planes and head them towards the tower, then within seconds of each other. Perhaps a small
machine language keyboard handler that is
triggered by the vertical blank display interrupt
might work. This would allow normal keyboard
input while Basic chugs along.
This touches on my second suggestion. Maybe
more of the Atari's great features could have been
included in the game. The Atari sound generator
could supply radar beeps, plane crash explosions,
and successful landing sounds. Also, more colors
would enhance the display and make readability
better. Of course these enhancements make a
game very computer specific which has its obvious
disadvantages when developing software.
As of this writing (May 1982) Avalon Hill has
stated that an updated version of CONTROLLER
is in the works. Perhaps we will see the above
suggestions incorporated into a later version.
(b) decrease it by one for each adjacent
hex containing a negative value.
(3) Copy the new map back into the old one.
(4) Repeat steps (2) and (3) some arbitrary
number of times.
When you're done, each hex will contain some
value. The sign of the value indicates who controls
it (+ = you, - = them), while the magnitude of the
value indicates how strong that influence is.
Values near zero suggest weak control, while large
values (either positive or negative) suggest strong
control.
This technique works fine...assuming that the
pieces don't move, that they all have the same
combat strength, that they can't affect non-
adjacent units, and that the map has uniform
terrain. This, of course, leaves out most wargames.
So, to be effective, we need to find some way of
taking these different factors into account. Let's
see how we can modify the algorithm above to
adjust for each of these complications.
MOVEMENT
Given two units of equal strength, the one that
THE SILICON moves faster exerts more influence. More accu-
rately, the speedy unit exerts the same level of
influence, but does it over a wider area. Since our
CEREBRUM algorithm is based on immobile units, we need to
make some changes to account for unit movement.
by Bruce Webster Modifying part (1) of the algorithm is one solu-
tion. Originally, we placed an arbitrary value
(positive or negative) in each occupied hex and
zero in each unoccupied one. Now, for each unit,
let's place values (of the appropriate sign) in all
the hexes it can move to. We might want to reduce
MAP WEIGHTING (PART 2) the influence by distance. Suppose we have a unit
that can move up to 5 hexes, and we give its
INTRODUCTION location a value of 50. Here are some possible
assignments for the hexes it could move to:
Last issue we discussed an approach for allow-
ing a game program to "look" at a hex map. The distance 1 2 3
method assigns a value to each hex indicating 1 hex 25.0 40.0 50.0
who controls that spot and how strongly they 2 hexes 16.7 30.0 12.5
control it. This is the algorithm used: 3 hexes 12.5 20.0 5.6
(1) Assign each map location one of 4 hexes 10.0 10.0 3.1
three values: 5 hexes 8.3 0.0 2.0
(a) if it's empty, assign zero (0); Here are the equations used:
(b) if it's occupied by your side, assign 1) value : = 50 / (distance + 1);
some arbitrary value say, 50); 2) value : =50 — (distance * 10);
(c) if it's occupied by the enemy, 3) value : =50 / (distance * distance);
assign the opposite value
(i.e., -50). Which one to use? That depends on the game itself
(2) Make a new copy of the map, with each and will require some experimenting and "tweak-
location receiving its old value modified ing". In fact, you'll probably want to come up with
by the six hexes surrounding it: one of your own; these are just suggestions.
(a) increase it by one for adjacent hex This method leads to another problem: what
containing a positive
(non-zero) value; Continued on pg. 17
"
about hexes that several units (perhaps from both very quickly. Consider the problem of determining
sides) can move to? What value goes there? As all the hexes to which a unit can move. Suppose
before, there are several solutions. The simplest: that the unit has a movement factor of 5. If we
the sum of all the values to be placed there. ignore terrain, then we simply look at all locations
Another might be the sum of the largest positive 5 or less hexes from the unit's current position. We
and the largest negative values. Again, you'll need can do that easily. Now let's add terrain. The
to experiment to see what works best. result? We must try to trace a path to each of those
90 hexes, taking into account the cost of moving
COMBAT STRENGTH into each hex along the way. There are some well-
defined algorithms for doing this, but they're
Given two units of equal movement ability, the going to take extra time and memory. And the
one with greater combat strength (CS) exerts more terrain effects on combat strength and attack
influence over the same area. How do you show range can be even harder to handle.
this? Easy: make the arbitrary value used some
CONCLUSIONS
function of the CS. For example, we could just use
the CS itself as the arbitrary value. However, the We can make a game-playing program compli-
CS probably won't be large enough to get the cated without much effort. If we really try, we can
differentiation that we want. In that case, we can make it very complicated. Unfortunately, the im-
multiply it by some constant (say, 10) or raise it to proved performance doesn't always justify the
some power (say, 2), or both. If we wanted to get increased time and memory consumption.
really tricky, we could multiply it by a varying In the next few issues, I'll have examples of the
amount, such as the number of friendly units techniques described above, as well as some of the
within a certain distance. As before, you need to algorithms needed to carry them out. As always,
experiment to see what works best with your I'm happy to hear from you, especially anyone
game. who would like to submit a column for Silicon
Cerebrum. You can reach me at:
ATTACK RANGE Bruce F. Webster
9264 Grossmont Blvd.
Given two units of equal movement ability and
La Mesa, CA 92041.
equal combat strength, the one that has a greater
attack range (AR) exerts more influence, since it
can affect a greater area. For each hex to which a
unit can move, there is a surrounding group of
hexes into which that unit can fire. These can
include hexes both within and outside of the unit's
movement range.
Some questions arise when taking attack range
into account. What value should we place in all the
hexes that a unit can fire at from a given position?
Probably the adjusted CS value that we are placing
in the position itself. What should we place in a
hex that a unit can both move into and fire at?
Perhaps the greater of the two values that would
be given to the hex. What about hexes that several
units, possibly from both sides, can move and/or
fire into? The answer to this question is left as an
exercise for the reader.
TERRAIN FACTORS
Given two identical units, the one that is least
hampered by surrounding terrain exerts more
influence. This can happen in several ways. First,
terrain can limit movement. Second, terrain can
affect combat strength, either directly (by lower-
ing actual combat strength) or indirectly (by
increasing defensive strength of enemy units).
Third, terrain can reduce attack range by blocking
line-of-sight (LOS) attacks.
Dealing with terrain factors becomes very messy
PURSUIT OF THE GRAF SPEE:
A Review
by William Edmunds
Graf Spee as it moves about sinking merchant
BASIC INFORMATION ships. The game can be played by two players or
solitaire, with the computer playing the German
NAME: Pursuit of the Graf Spee side. A complete game can take two hours. Games
TYPE: War Game
can be saved after each turn but require a separate
SYSTEM: Apple II w/ ROM Card or Apple II Plus
SSI initialized diskette.
The game is played on a map of the South
Atlantic which is displayed on the Hi-Res screen.
The ocean is sectioned by a grid upon which ship
positions are displayed by identification letters.
There are ports on the coast of Africa and South
America which can be used for refueling and
repairs.
PURSUIT OF THE GRAF SPEE is a The game starts on December 1, 1939 and ends
war game based on one of the early conflicts of on December 25 or sooner if the Graf Spee is sunk.
World War II. The Graf Spee, one of Germany's There are two turns per day and you can move
new pocket battleships, was sent to the South your ships one space in any direction each turn.
Atlantic to sink Britain's supply ships. In this Inputing moves is very simple and you can go
game, twelve Allied ships must find and sink the back and change any or all ship moves as often as
when moving into a location. By patrolling in
small clusters off the main shipping lanes, you
should improve your chances of locating the Spee
either by sightings or radio distress reports. There
is a short version of the game that starts on
December 13 with the Exeter, Ajax, and Achilles
sighting the Graf Spee as it leaves the Plate River
area. But starting the game with three cruisers
sighting the Spee is no easy victory, as you will
see.
When the Graf Spee is spotted, the game moves
to a naval battle. The author has done a good job of
simplifying many aspects of the real world while
maintaining those which give you tactical control
over your ships. The player input is simple and the
resolution of a turn is quick. All the ships are rated
for maximum speed, size of guns and their place-
you like. If you choose not to move a ship, it will ment, armor thickness, strength of the hull and
patrol its location. You can refuel by moving into a superstructure, and torpedoes. There is a chart
port and patrolling for one turn. which gives maximum range at which the shells
If the Graf Spee is in the same location as one of will penetrate the different thicknesses of armor.
the Allied ships then there is a possibility it will be This makes for a nice tactical game within the
sighted. That chance is based on weather con- main strategic game.
ditions and the number of ships at that location. Battles are initially set up with the Graf Spee
Once the Graf Spee is spotted, the game moves directly ahead at a range which is dependent upon
to a tactical combat phase where each turn repre- weather conditions. The Graf Spee will be running
sents about three minutes. This phase is much from the encounter while firing its stern guns at
more detailed and takes place on a featureless you. Your ships all have more speed and can
background with the letter designations repre- overtake the Spee, but except for the Renown, your
senting relative position of the ships involved. guns are smaller and cannot penetrate the Spee's
Here you can control speed, heading, and targets armor at long range. If you start your pursuit from
for your guns. The ships are rated for speed, type, a long range, your ships, one by one, will succumb
and placement of guns, and armor thickness. to the Spee's larger guns.
Combat continues until all enemy ships are sunk The December 13th scenario is a perfect example
or visual contact is lost. of this. The game starts with clear skies which
The main portion of the game is finding the Graf places you at long range. In this case, I find it is
Spee. You must deploy your ships to search the better to break off the attack and try shadowing
areas where the Graf Spee is likely to show. the Spee. According to the formula given in the
Normally you won't know where the ship is unless manual, with clear skies and three ships you have
a merchant ship is sunk. Then there is a fifty a better than eighty percent chance of successfully
percent chance the merchant vessel will radio its shadowing. Then on the next turn, if the weather
location. is bad and you manage to keep track of the Spee,
The Allied ships you have for searching are you will be able to launch your attack from a
comprised of one battleship, four heavy cruisers, shorter range. You most likely will lose a ship or
five light cruisers or destroyers, and two aircraft two but a torpedo hit will slow the Spee down.
carriers. The carriers improve your chance of Then you will be able to finish her off with your
finding the Graf Spee, because of their reconnais- remaining ship as the hits come in a fury due to the
sance aircraft, and they can launch one air attack targets reduced speed, your closing range, and the
with their torpedo bombers. However, they have smaller guns' increased fire rate. Of course, if you
no armament and require an escort to prevent lose track of the Spee, then it's back to square one.
being sunk. The Graf Spee has larger guns and The PURSUIT OF THE GRAF SPEE is a good
more armor than the cruisers, so unless you are intermediate level war game. It combines a
attacking with the battleship Renown, you will strategic game, its anguish of unsuccessful search-
need more than one or two ships in a single ing, with tactical battles which can produce the
location. thrill of battle when you're finally closing in for
Even with occasional reports of the Graf Spee's the kill. This game characterizes many of the
location, finding him is a challenge. Ships that are aspects of naval combat while being fast paced
patrolling have a better chance of spotting than and easy to play.
STARSHIP COMMANDER:
A REVIEW by Bob Proctor
make decisions about how to allocate mine had this problem, so maybe it
BASIC INFORMATION energy, when to rest weary crew is not too common. On the other
members, and when and where to hand, you would not want to buy
NAME: Starship Commander use your repair droids. The game is this game and discover that you
TYPE: Strategy packed with detail but unfortunate- couldn't play it.
SYSTEM: Apple II or Apple II+ ly the documentation doesn't give
148K, requires paddle) you an over-view of what's happen-
FORMAT: Diskette (DOS 3.3) ing. For this reason, many may find
that SC is not worth the effort GIVING ORDERS
# PLAYERS: 1
AUTHOR: Gilman Louie required to master it; but Trekkies The list which you will use the
PRICE: $39.95 will love its ability to make you feel most is called the Command Screen.
PUBLISHER: Voyager Software --more than any other game -- like From it, you can select any of 7
P.O. Box 15-518 you're in the Captain's chair of a stations of the Ranger:
San Francisco, CA 94114 Federation starship.
Communication — to talk to the Vegan
TAKING OFF
Is there anyone with an interest in commander.
The first thing that strikes you Defense — to maintain your
computer gaming who has never when you start playing is the way
played STARTREK? You know, shields.
the paddle is used to control all Engineering — to allocate repair
where you dash from quadrant to game functions. Almost every screen
quadrant, destroying Klingons droids and power.
contains a list of choices. By rotating Life Support — to change crew or
wherever you find them? The game the paddle knob, you move an arrow
has been around for over a decade (!) team assignments.
to the item you want and push the Navigation — to control the ship's
and there are countless versions, paddle button to select it. You
including the more glamorous off- speed and course.
NEVER have to touch the keyboard! Science — to "scan" an enemy
spring such as Atari's STAR While I think this is an excellent
RAIDERS. For those who are vessel's status.
approach, I would still like to have Weapons — to fire positrons or
familiar with it (and I assume that an option to use the keyboard in
means almost everybody), the most torpedoes.
emergencies. For example, the knob
important thing I have to say about on my old set of Apple paddles would
STARSHIP COMMANDER is that Each time you return to the Com-
not turn far enough to let me select mand Screen, there is an asterisk in
it is NOT another souped-up version the last item on each list. Unfor-
of STARTREK. front of the stations which you have
tunately, this was usually "RETURN" selected so far that turn. This keeps
Instead, SC depicts a single battle and I was stuck--unable to continue you from overlooking an important
with 1 to 3 enemy ships (the baddies the game. Some of the better paddles function (like Weapons!) which is an
are called Vegans here). To win, you have an adjustment screw to correct aggravating mistake. It's a great
must destroy them, force their sur- this, but I don't know what to tell touch which makes you feel like the
render, or force them to run away. you if your pair is non-adjustable. computer, for once, is on your side.
As commander of the USS Ranger, Perhaps you can devise a test to see
you must not only give orders about if your paddle (0) has a full range of Besides these stations, there are 2
navigation and weapons, but must settings. Of 3 pairs I've tested, only other choices on the Command
Screen. The first ends the game (with ning strategy. I expected to find a Another item I miss is a plot of the
an option to save it and continue description of what's going on in the enemy's projected position. This is
later) and the other ends the turn. 19-page book that comes with the the point where the Vegan ship(s)
When the turn ends, you see the game. It's not there and I consider would be at the end of the next turn
exchange of weaponry on a scanner this omission SC's biggest failing. at their present course and speed.
screen, get a report of damage, in- This is a very complex simulation The auto-pilots can use this projec-
juries and fatalities, and see the and a Commander should under- tion, but there is no way to display it
relative movement of the ships on a stand it, not be learning it on the job. if you want to do your own navigation.
screen called the "Motion Detector." Take Power, for example. It is ob- The automatic controls, both in De-
Then you're back to the Command viously being used up -- the rules tell fense and Navigation, do an ade-
Screen and it's time to plan your you how much is needed for some quate job for a novice but will not do
next move (but not all) functions. However, no- as good a job as an experienced
where are you told that the engines Commander. If you are going to be
GETTING THE PICTURE
are also generating power or that good at SC, you must eventually
There is a lot of information this amount depends on the effic- take up these duties yourself. It
available from your shipboard com- iency of the team on duty in Engi- would also be nice if there was some
puters. There are about 30 different neering. It is possible, if you are indication of ship heading on the
screens which convey the status of frugal, to generate more power than Motion Detector. This would let you
your ship and as many others which you use and thus replenish the bat- see which shield was facing the
allow you to perform some action. teries a little. In a battle where both enemy, a crucial factor.
sides are severely crippled, this tactic
may be the game-winner; the extra GETTING PROMOTED
energy might allow you to repair At the end of the game you get a
your torpedoes first. The point is score and a rank based on your
that such subtleties are not obvious performance. Under 8000 points
(at first) and are not explained -- you earns you the rank of Crewperson,
have to be willing to dig for them. higher scores earn one of 11 higher
DELEGATING AUTHORITY ranks -- all the way up to Fleet
Admiral for more than 38,000 points.
In the beginning it seems like The number of points you get will
there are too many decisions to depend on several factors but is
make; so it is nice that you can give primarily a function of how many
the computer some of your decision- Vegan ships you faced and how
making burden. Both the Defense strong they were. You can choose to
The graphics used to display infor- and Navigation stations have Auto- fight 1, 2, or 3 at the beginning of the
mation are superb. There are bar matic Control options -- with these game and select the type (Destroyer,
charts to compare actual power in effect, you only have to worry Cruiser or Dreadnought) of each. At
usage with allocated power, a graph about Weapons each turn and Life first, you'll have your hands full
to give you the relationship between Support every 4 turns or so. With with a single Destroyer but as you
speed and distance covered, sche- defensive auto-control, the computer learn, you can increase the challenge
matics of the Ranger to show damage, will distribute power to your shields, by selecting a stronger force. You
and plan views showing the relative keeping most of it in the shields that also get an 8000 point bonus if you
position of all ships. If a business are facing the enemy. In Navigation, can get the Vegans to surrender.
program had these graphics and you can choose semi-automatic, You demand this using the Com-
ease-of-use, people would rave about where the computer sets the course munication station. The Vegan com-
it. It's very nice to see them in a but you control speed, or full auto- mander has no sense of humor at all.
game; certainly the need to easily matic, where you select a distance
understand a lot of information and the computer will attempt to CONCLUSIONS
exists here too. keep the RANGER that far from the
enemy. STARSHIP COMMANDER puts
YOU in charge. The level of detail is
It is necessary to go to Life Support extraordinary; you know each crew-
to rotate the crew teams from Duty member by name and control every
to Sleep to Standby. There ought to aspect of your ship's operation. In a
be a way to give orders to have them game lasting from one to four hours,
rotate automatically but there isn't. you, like STAR TREK'S Captain
There are, to my way of thinking, Kirk, will not only have to know
several such features which should good battle-tactics but will have to
exist but don't. For instance, there manage your ship well enough to
isn't any report that shows you the maintain fighting efficiency equal
power allocations for ALL of the to the enemy's. The documentation
main systems. Each total is available is weak; it explains the commands
on the appropriate report but I would and options but does not provide an
expect an overview to be available insight into what is happening. This
As good as the graphics are, there at Engineering. It isn't -- anywhere. can only be gained by playing. [Ed.
is so much information that it is not It's also very hard to get a clear Note: Please see the designer's notes
clear at first what is important and picture of power consumption. The for Starship Commander in our next
what is "chrome." This is a mixed amount left in the batteries will give Issue]. For those who are willing to
blessing as it adds mystique which you an idea of how much you're dig for this understanding, the game
makes role-playing more fun, but it using but there is no report to show offers considerable challenge and
makes it harder to figure out a win- you clearly where it's all going. satisfaction.
ADVENTURES - Cheaper By The Dozen And A Half
by Dick Mcgrath
BASIC INFORMATION graphs offer brief suggestions on Greg Hassett, the teenage founder
how to play, design, write and of his own mail order software
NAME: The Captain 80 Book of business, Adventure World, is also a
Basic Adventures market computer adventures. Don't
expect the "complete adventure prolific computer adventure writer.
GENERAL
garners manual", however. Re- Five of his early efforts are included
CONTENT: Program design and basic in Captain 80. "Journey To The Center
member, each chapter is only two or
language coding Of The Earth" -- designed by a
three pages long.
technique applied to beginner, for beginners; "House Of
adventure-type programs Chapter 7 is particularly valuable The Seven Gables"; the claustro-
SPECIAL to the sight-unseen mail order phobic "King Tut's Tomb"; Voyage
FEATURES: 1. A newly-released purchaser of computer adventures... To Atlantis" and the sinister "Sorcer-
adventure program in fact, this chapter alone could be er's Castle". Collectively, they trace
generator which worth the price of the book! It his developing talents as a computer
creates adventure contains capsule descriptions of 27 adventure writer.
programs in basic. popular, commercially available ad-
2. Complete program venture programs. A little research Lance Micklus is well known as a
listings in basic for could prevent you from wasting business and utility program writer.
eighteen popular adven- money on a program that doesn't His only currently available ad-
tures appeal to your particular interests. venture program, "Dog Star Ad-
AUTHOR: Robert Liddil venture" is included as the single
PRICE: $19.95
But the real value bonanzas in space age theme in the book.
PUBLISHER: 80-Northwest
this book are the adventures! Of the
252 pages, 215 are devoted to the A father-daughter programming
Publishing, Inc.
program listings of eighteen basic team from Indianapolis, Don and
3838 South Warner St.
language adventures. If you con- Freda Boner, have contributed a
Tacoma, Washington
sider that each one retails separately tale of Kentucky Moonshine, re-
98409
for about $15.95, you could sell out a venooers, good old boys and southern
total of about $287.00 for this sheriffs in Thunder Road. They also
collection on disk or tape! You're wrote the most recent of the pro-
In addition to software on tape getting them for about $1.10 each in grams, a two part series: Revenge Of
and disk, there are armloads of books the book. Now that's value! The Balrog and The Fortress At
with program listings which you Times End, fun for dungeon and
can type in yourself. CAPTAIN 80's All the programs are written for dragon fans!
BOOK OF BASIC ADVENTURES the Model I TRS-80 but should be
is one such volume... and a source of easily convertible to other machines For those of you who like "Big"
hours of exciting challenge for the and other versions of basic. All but adventure, Teri Li's Atlantean
computer adventurer. one should run in 16K of memory, Odyssey, is a full 48K in length. Not
although you may need to remove only is it the largest program, it
"Captain 80" is the pseudonym of the remarks statements and com- comes complete with simple graphics
author Bob Liddil, who writes a pact some of the code to fit. of the adventure locations. Teri, a
column of the same name for the 80- professional programmer for Instant
U.S. Journal, a national magazine All have been published previously
and most are still commercially Software, has two other programs in
devoted solely to the TRS-80 com- the book -- Lost Dutchman's Gold
available. The authors are some of
puter. and Spider Mountain.
the best in the business: Scott
The book opens with a forward by Adams, Lance Micklus, Teri Li, Greg If you've read this far, you probably
that guru of computer adventures, Hassett, Don and Freda Boner, and know what is meant by a "Computer
Scott Adams, president of Adventure others. These adventures represent Adventure". But just in case you
International. As a pioneer of the a cross-section of some of their early don't, let me give you a definition
computer software industry, his efforts. Though their current work is straight from Captain 80's book; A
comments provide a stamp of undoubtedly more sophisticated, you computer adventure is... "A semi-
approval. He describes the book as can hardly complain when you're intelligent, word recognizing com-
"the world's first anthology of basic getting these at about $1.10 each. puter program which employs a
adventurers from some of the best All are still great fun, and a few novelistic style to present an un-
known writers of micro-computer have become classics. solved puzzle." It is a word oriented
software". game in which the player communi-
Let me give you a sampling: One
The first seven chapters are brief of Scott Adams' first efforts, Ad- cates with the game author through
(2 or 3 page) monographs, possibly ventureland, was written when all the computer. The writer has thrown
the substance of past or future you could find were Star Trek out a challenge to the player, in the
Captain 80 columns. The first two imitations. It has a sleeping dragon form of a puzzle. The author's success
chapters provide a bit of philosophi- (tread lightly), a swamp, a lava flow is measured not so much by whether
cal history on the role of the ad- and Paul Bunyon's magic axe. This you are able to solve the puzzle, but
venturer in literature, and draw an is the original version, written in by the amount of fun you have in
interesting comparison between the basic. Though it was later rewritten trying.
adventure hero of the past and his in machine language, this is still an
modern counterpart, the computer excellent introductory adventure for
adventurer. The remaining mono- the novice. Continued on pg. 39
HORSE RACING CLASSIC: A REVIEW
by Barry Austin
NAME: Horse Racing Classic to "Place" bet? How did I lose my
TYPE: Sports Game money so easily? The appendix to
SYSTEM: Apple II the rulebook has a nice little dis-
FORMAT: Disk cussion on understanding odds and
# PLAYERS: 1 to 9 pay-offs.
PRICE: $36.95
PUBLISHER: Taaumi Software While HRC performs admirably
International as a simulation and tutorial on
8 North Grosvenor Ave. thoroughbred wagering it really
Burnaby. British Columbia shines as a party game. With HRC
Canada, V5B 1J2 at a party, don't be surprised if you
1604)294-2891 find a room full of otherwise normal
people jumping up and down
[In Howard Cosell's voice] -- It's a screaming for "Spectacular Bid" (or
simulation. A pedagogic device with- able with HRC, as the two most
even "Spectacular Dud") to race
out parallel in the annals of digitized recent performances of each horse
across those last few grueling inches
sports games. An electronic derby in a race are given for your ex-
of the monitor for a well earned
party which fetes more equine ex- amination. In addition to the recent
victory. As we have just hinted, you
citement than my own loquacious racing history of each horse and
can change the name of any of the
platitudes and perambulations in standard racing form data (weight
100 horses stored on the game disk.
covering the May Classic (the carried, Odds, fastest time, number
of starts, wins, places, and shows), This will not change the horses per-
Kentucky Derby for the uninitiated) formance record (which is stored by
in my own nasal and lugubrious HRC gives a rating to the jockey and
date and race), but can provide a
fashion. trainer assigned to each horse. All of
humorous touch to the proceedings.
Thank you Howard for that nifty which adds an amazing degree of
Each bettor is given an initial stake
introduction to HORSE RACING realism to the game.
of $100 which he or she uses to try
CLASSIC. Yes, we agree with you, As a tutorial, HRC can be used to and win the most money. The game
HRC is a good horse racing simu- teach a novice not only how to read stores the ten highest winning totals
lation, a good teaching tool, and just the racing form, but how to make on disk. This "Handicapper Hall Of
a darn good party game. There have intelligent choices at the betting Fame" adds an additional touch to
been several horse race games window. When is it best to bet across the game, evidenced by a recent
written for the Apple (most were the board? Is there really any logic incident in which a player refused to
little more than lo-res programming bet on the last 4 races of the daily
exercises), but HRC stands apart. card because he had a $1 lead over
As a simulation, HRC makes use the all-time third place total.
of a horse's track record to determine
From one to nine bettors can buy
the potential performance of each
the traditional win, place, and show
horse on the daily card. For example,
tickets for any of seven horses in the
a horse that has a record of coming
four to nine races of the daily card
from off the pace (according to the
race. Bettors can also buy tickets in
racing form provided for each race)
any combinations such as betting a
will have a good chance of closing
horse "across the board". This hi-res
on the leaders in any given race.
game is very well done and well
Anyone who knows how to read a
worth the $36.95 price tag.
racing form will feel very comfort-
SNEAK ATTACK ON
KNIGHT OF DIAMONDS
By Harry Conover
The chevroned boys, fresh from a They had been warned by previous and giving aid when needed
30 day leave after whipping Werdna mercenaries that the maze was After stocking up with armament
in Woodhead/ Greenberg's first guarded by monsters of incredible and supplies and a blessing from the
WIZARDRY scenario, PROVING strength and that even level 13 nether worlds, Stoned Sammy (lost
GROUNDS OF THE MAD OVER- veterans had fallen victim to it's forever !!) the group made their way
LORD, were ready to join forces many entrapments. But expedition into level one.
again. This time their task was even leader Prospero knew his men.
more difficult. Find the five items on Stormtroopers Kirk and Frenchy along "Not as bad as I thought", cracked
Gnilda and return them, along with with Akido the Samurai, would lead Kirk, reaching the middle chamber
the staff of light, to her highness so with Lord Prospero, Damien and and receiving instructions from
that she might regain her throne. Lechat in the rear, casting spells Gnilda.
"At least there are no creeping "Well then", laughed Kirk, "it's "Yeh, sure looks that way", smiled
coins", muttered Frenchy. time to call in our second generation. the stormtrooper, "we've got three of
Thank Woodhead for backups". the five items and avoided some
"Patience, men, patience, our test nasty traps. All in all this is a breeze".
is about to begin" counseled Prospero. Using the time honored method of
coordinate selection (10,10) the six
And that is why, it took these well were whisked off into.... Fighting on with their quest nearly
seasoned men hours to find the only over, the gallant men realized the 2nd
way into level two and hours more to level and claimed all five items that
map that 80% darkened maze. "Mon Dieu!", hollered Frenchy. made up the Knight of Diamonds.
"We have landed right in the middle "And now", intoned Prospero, "for
"I could be home playing Zork", of level five. No rock, no traps no..." the real test, we must journey back
grumbled Akido. Frenchy's enthusiasm was quickly to the 5th level for the Staff of Light
abated by a horde of monsters that for without it our task is incomplete."
dispatched Damien and Lechat to
"We all will be if you don't start
the other side. Using Prospero's Using the Malor spell and over-
getting in the first hit", suggested
magical recuperative powers (and coming a gauntlet of the deadliest
Damien.
three and a half sets of crossed defenders ever seen in a maze the
fingers), Damien and Lechat were prized staff was re-claimed and the
"Let us camp now", said Prospero, summoned back from the dead. heroes given their due.
"and decide on our strategy. Our
food runs as low as our spirits so we "You men have got to remember, Back in the luxury rooms at the
must devise a plan of expediency." these monsters aren't foolish. They inn the now be-knighted squad
Around the crackling fire the 6 tossed grew up in the same environment we pondered their next adventure. "All
ideas back and forth. They kept did so they know all our spells. Forget I hear about is Time Zone, Time
coming back to Kirk's idea and about that dilto stuff, Damien and Zone", mused Damien," maybe we
finally agreed on it. They would cast Lechat just open the chests please!" should look into this."
a Malor spell down to the 5th level thundered an exhausted Prospero.
and work their way back up the Heeding their mentor's advice the "Ah, Mesopotomia in the spring",
stairs, thereby coming up on any six pushed on, hacking and slaying sighed Prospero.
evil-doers or traps from behind. their way through levels 5, 4 and 3. "Guess I know where to send my
There was only one hitch. bags now", chuckled Kirk.
"Hey Kirk", yelled Akido during a
"What happens if we travel into melee against harmless puffballs, "I Time Zone, you haven't got a
solid rock?", asked Akido? think your planned worked!". chance. u
by Bill Willett
If you're an Atari gamer like me, not like I would have on an Apple or screen, the playability is excellent.
you've probably visited all the soft- Color Computer. The detail is superb. The fox's feet
ware stores within a thirty mile move and he sits down when done.
To have created this map (40 wide
radius to find that special combina- The chicken flaps her wings and
by 24 deep) on another computer
tion of software and people that can shuffles her feet. The chicks (the
with graphic blocks would have
help you find what you want. Or, result of a dropped egg) peep and
required some 15 thousand bytes.
you buy countless magazines and bustle realistically. Best of all I like
The same resolution on the Atari
read the reviews to help you spend the little man who boots the chicken
can be done using a redefined
your limited software dollars. Right off the screen (the result of stepping
character set with only one thousand
now, Atari game software is just on a chick). Synapse seems to be
bytes. This is done by redefining the
beginning to become abundant. We producing good games.
alphabet as pieces (trees, forests,
garners need two things to make us
tanks, etc.) and printing them on the Datasoft's Tumblebugs is like the
happy. We need more games, and
screen just like text. The 8 by 8 Apple Dungbeatle. You are pursued
ways to choose what fits our needs.
matrix of graphics blocks defining in a large maze by a number of
To get more games, you need more the piece can be specified with only tumblebugs. You must eat all the
programmers. To convince these pro- one byte. dots before the tumblebugs get you.
grammers to spend their limited time The unique thing in this game is the
A final example is the gamers
on the Atari there must be sufficient magnifying glass window which
Godsend, the player missile. In my
payback for the time invested. The moves above the maze (which is too
game, to move a piece without
Atari has inherent capabilities to large to see detail) and magnifies
players would mean moving the
make a game programmer's time what is below it. Gamma Software's
image of the piece through the map,
more efficient. But more important, Hockey is a delight to play. This
restoring the map as I went. With
the number of Atari users is growing two, three or four person game has
players, the map is left intact and I
into a substantial market. The lack three players and one goalie per side
move a player around on the screen.
of software and the potential sales is and is quite similar to Intellivision's
The computer takes care of who's on
drawing programmers to the new soccer.
top of who and moves the piece
Atari market.
without disturbing the map. SSI has released Tigers In The
The special capabilities I'm talking Snow and The Battle of Shiloh in
While there are advantages to pro-
about are the features built into the Atari versions. Both require the
gramming your game on an Atari,
hardware to make the game pro- BASIC cartridge, and either disk or
there are also some negatives. One
grammer's life so much easier. The tape, and cost $40. All versions
is the limited market at this time for
beginner, like me, can now do wonder- require 40K except tape Shiloh which
their efforts. Another problem is the
ful things like scroll across maps or uses 32K. Both have scrolling maps
lack of good utilities. We're now
fly needlefighters through defender The Battle of Shiloh recreates the
seeing the second generation of
type worlds. These capabilities are famous American Civil War battle,
utilities which should provide better
even more important to the pro- while Tigers in the Snow simulates
tools for the programmer. Another
fessional programmer. The time he the December 1944 offensive by the
problem I've heard of is the slowness
saves in developing graphics can be Germans. You can find reviews on
of chaining programs.
used in fine tuning and developing these two games for the Apple in
more games. back issues of CGW, Mar.—Apr. for
I'll give some examples of how the NEW RELEASES Tigers and Jan.—Feb. for Shiloh.
Atari has made my life easier as a Protector, Chicken, and Dodge Racer EPYX has announced four ad-
game programmer. I'm working on are three designs for the Atari from venture games to delight we Atarians.
a war game right now that I could Synapse Software. Protector seems King Arthur's Court sends the player
not have undertaken with any other to be very popular and with good off fighting dragons and wizards in
machine on the market. I've in- reason, it uses all the Atari's features. order to return the crown. Nightmare
corporated a four screen map (similar See notes on the game in the Jan.— puts you in a magical castle with
to Eastern Front's six screen map) Feb. and May-June issues of CGW. gargoyles, headless men and, packs
in basic. To scroll across this map on Dodge Racer is the old standby where of very hungry rats, all tempting to
another machine I would have had the player guides his car around a stop you from retaining your sanity.
to use complex machine code routines number of concentric tracks that When shipwrecked on Vulcan's Isle
to actually move the map through can be switched between. The player you'll battle demons and satyrs to
the display memory. With the Atari, attempts to clear the tracks of dots earn freedom. In Crypt of the Undead
this scrolling is done by calling a while not being hit by the oncoming you are in a cemetery and must find
fifteen byte machine code user routine computer car. Chicken captivated your way to the world of the living
which has to change only a few me. Although a simple concept of a before dawn. Although I haven't
memory locations. Yes, I had to chicken catching falling eggs dropped seen these games yet, that they all
learn some assembly language, but by the cagey fox at the top of the require joysticks is a good sign.
lates the problems (and frustrations) of a hypo-
thetical sector commander in the German Army
BASIC INFORMATION who sees the writing on the wall.
NAME: Dnieper River Line Some old ideas are re-worked here: fog-of-war
TYPE: Wargame (inadequate or inaccurate information); and in-
SYSTEM: Apple. Atari. Pet, TRS-80 adequate resources desperately trying to do too
FORMAT: Disk or Tape much with too little for too long. The result is a
# PLAYERS: 1
series of scenarios guaranteed to earn the player
AUTHOR: Bruce A. Ketchledge
PRICE: $20.00 [tape): $25.00 (disk)
(metaphorically speaking) his service decoration,
PUBLISHER: Avalon Hill Game Company combat fatigue, and transfer to a quiet sector (like
Normandy).
The physical components are typical of Avalon
Hill's board games: multi-colored mounted map-
board; die-cut counters; 16-page narrative-based
The desperate position of German defensive rules booklet, and thick 1" box. As the program
strategy on the Eastern Front in 1943-44 was features text only (which must be interfaced with
partially solved with the use of mobile Kamp- the mapboard and counters), pirating is rendered
fgruppen (battlegroups) as fire-brigades, scram- impractical. A pirated version would resemble the
bling desperately between emergencies with graphics state-of-the-art in wargaming of early
never enough resources, keeping disaster at arm's 1971, with "paste-your-own" counters in the format
length until the numbers finally caught up with of early zip-lock.
the German Army. DNIEPER RIVER LINE, a The Game System
recent release by Avalon Hill, accurately simu- Dnieper River Line is 8-12 turns long, with each
28
game-turn representing one hour of "real" time.
Each turn is subdivided into five phases: Russian
Movement; Russian Combat; German Movement;
German Combat; and Reinforcements. A save-
game option exists at the conclusion of each
game-turn.
The Russian movement phase is exclusively
computer-controlled, with passive interaction neces-
sary for the German player to keep track of
Russian activity and intentions. An average
computer turn takes 2-4 minutes. The usefulness
(completeness) of information available to the
German player is directly related to how well his
units can "see" what's going on. Russian units
move toward fixed objectives (there are six) until
they capture objectives, encounter German units,
run out of movement points, or are disrupted by
German fire.
The combat phases incorporate an algorithm
which includes severity of fighting, disruption
levels, smoke, anti-tank capabilities, percentage
strengths, and combat modes. The computer
displays combat odds as a ratio and immediately
resolves the combat, with defeated forces retreating
up; to squares toward their side's baseline.
The German movement phase presents stra-
tegic choices for the player: command (to change
the status and move an individual unit); status (to
check the condition of all German units); reserve
(to request the release as reinforcements of off-
map units); artillery (to request off-map artillery
support); objective (to review the ownership of the
objective squares); and quit (to end the German
combat phase).
In the command sub-phase of the German
movement phase, units can be deployed in one of
three combat modes: static (no movement allowed,
limited observation, and defensive strength is
doubled); assault mode (normal movement, com-
bat, and observation); and mobile mode (doubled
movement allowance, normal observation, and
combat strength reduced by one-half).
Disruption levels (displayed during the status
sub-phase of the German movement phase) have a
devastating effect on the combat capabilities of
units, with an adjusted combat strength equal to
1/1(+x), where x=disruption level. Disrupted units
that aren't moved or attacked, or don't participate
in an attack can recuperate in disruption levels.
Each unit has a displayed number, type, strength,
location, mode, and status displayed during the
status sub-phase of the German movement phase.
A check also exists to easily see whether or not a
unit has been moved. Combat, movement, and
Continued on pg. 38
BASIC INFORMATION realistically they ran to my 'copter when I had
landed. But I burst out laughing when I returned
NAME: Choplifter! them safely to base and saw them wave good-by as
TYPE: Arcade I left on another mission. The fighter attack
SYSTEM: Apple (now): Atari (soon) sequence makes good use of the 3-D and animation
FORMAT: Diskette which Dan Gorlin put into this game.
# OF PLAYERS: I While trying to rescue the hostages from their
AUTHOR: DAN GORLIN barracks (which you may have to fire upon in
PRICE: $34.95 order to set the hostages free) you are opposed by
PUBLISHER: BRODERBUND SOFTWARE tanks, jet fighters, and drone air mines. The tanks
fire at your craft while you are on the ground, and
CHOPLIFTER! is an outstanding new release though not usually accurate on the first shot or
from Broderbund Software. Outstanding in that: two they become deadly accurate after that. Don't
1) 3-D highly animated graphics are the best yet leave your 'copter on the ground for more than a
on the Apple, and ; 2) the game is truly a "new"
game.
You can look at any game that has come out this
year and not find one that is CHOPLIFTER!'s
equal for graphics. A very realistic smooth scrolling
screen with 3-D effects highlights this game which
puts the player at the controls of a helicopter with
the mission of rescuing the hostages from the
Bungelings (a nation of militaristic ideologues).
The first time you play you may well find yourself
muttering "incredible" as you watch the screen.
Photos with this article cannot do justice to the
graphics and animation. The helicopter can appear
to fly across the screen or turn and fire toward the
screen with a nice 3-D effect. The 3-D effect also
comes into play at the border crossing.
The animation is also outstanding. I got tickled
when I saw the hostages wave to me as I flew
overhead. I got even more tickled when I saw how Continued on pg. 38
groups. There are arcade games, adventure games,
A New Column... wargames, business games, sports games, fantasy
games and so on and so on. To be such a small
group (at least for the time being) we surely have
diverse tastes!
As a game designer, I am constantly reminded
of the size of the various "interest groups" that
make up the potential markets for my games.
There is no doubt that the largest number of people
at this point are interested in arcade/action games.
However, I feel there is also a potentially large
group that would be interested in simulation
games if designers could only develop better games.
Real World Gaming will examine the field of
simulation games and offer game designers
thoughts and techniques for better game design.
In this first installment I will attempt to illustrate
some of the vast potential inherent in the simula-
tion gaming field.
Simulation games can let you experience a real-
life field of endeavor that is not normally open to
you. Such games, in one form or another, have
always been popular. Monopoly, when it was
introduced in the 1930's, probably derived a large
part of its early success from the fact that people
"down on their luck" from the depression could
wheel and deal like real estate tycoons. Wargames,
in a like manner, have offered many "would be"
military strategists a chance to re-fight the great
battles of history. You could even contend that
many of today's arcade games are a type of "role
playing" simulation game since many give the
participant the chance to, for example, save the
world from some dreaded foe.
However, all of these games have simplified the
real-world to maintain "playability". In fact, this
simplification often leaves nothing but an abstract
shadow of what the real-world is like. Who could
possibly believe that playing Monopoly is a realis-
tic view of the field of land investment and
development? Before the advent of computer
games, most games were either so abstract as to
have only a vague resemblance to reality or were
so complex as to be unplayable for most people.
But the computer offers the possibility of creating
REAL WORLD games that make realism playable.
Computers can reduce the conflict between the
GAMING complexity necessary for realism and the simplicity
DanBute required for playability. All the information needed
to create a good "model" of a real-world field of
interest can be kept by the computer. All the
charts, probability tables and other paraphernalia
INTRODUCTION needed previously in simulation games can be
hidden away in a few computer chips. Players
I guess by the fact that we all read this maga- could then concern themselves only with the facts
zine, we share an interest in computer games! But and decisions which parallel those required in the
there are so many different types of games. Also, it particular real-life area being simulated. The com-
seems that each type only appeals to specific puter would do all of the work required for
analyzing the situations and generating results. In the case of "board" (or non-computer) games,
Greater realism would still require more sophisti- the main feature of abstract games is the simplicity
cation among the players, but this type of "com- of their mechanics. Likewise, realistic board games
plexity" would be a result of the knowledge needed are marked by a high complexity. In fact, the only
to pursue the activity the game is simulating as reason most board games are so abstract, is
opposed to being caused by the mechanics of the because greater realism always meant more com-
game. For instance, to play a good computer plexity before there were computers. I doubt that
business management game, you might need to whoever "created" chess would have designed
learn something about making decisions based on such arbitrary rules and abstract representations
financial reports, but you would not and should of feudal power had he had access to a method that
not have to know how to do the bookkeeping and could easily simulate the subject area with much
detailed accounting to prepare those reports. greater realism. Nonetheless, even if you disregard
Good simulation games would allow you to this biased view of game design, it is still apparent
quarterback a professional football team, manage that the old rules of "realism equals complexity"
a multi-million dollar corporation, dabble in the are less constant since the computer became part
of games.
stock market, explore for oil, fight glorious battles,
... all from the comfort of your own easy chair. That notwithstanding, the unfortunate fact is
These games would be "educational" without your that many computer simulation games are copying
even knowing that you are learning. They would from our predecessors of the pre-computer days.
be exciting in ways that arcade games couldn't We are using many game conventions that are no
possibly be. There are limits to the challenge of longer necessary. We don't need to have turns
just coordinating a hand on a joy-stick with an eye where each player gets a chance to make their
on a video screen. But, since simulation games add input when we can allow simultaneous action. We
a mental aspect, there are no bounds to the don't need games built on game maps from the
potential for fulfillment. (It's been said that there pre-computer era. In addition, there are capa-
is no toy like the human mind). bilities offered by computers that were totally
So, if simulation games are so great, why aren't unavailable previously. The great success of arcade
they more successful in the market? We are games should make it obvious that the inclusion of
currently selling personal computers to the "right" changing graphics and continuous physical in-
people (although things may change later). The volvement in games are attractive features. But
great majority of the computer games audience is since board games don't have such things, most
made up of a more intelligent, better educated, game designers don't even attempt them.
relatively affluent elite. Some have proposed the Simulation games have a great potential but
simple answer that people just don't like to think. game designers have to go quite a distance towards
If this were true, humans would be in big trouble new techniques in their programs. In the suc-
because many of the species we are driving to ceeding articles of this series, I shall describe some
extinction can out-DO us but none can out-THINK of the methods that can be used to improve games.
us. I am certain this is not the reason why Some of what I will write will be based on a formal
simulation games don't do very well. We need to education in Industrial Engineering, Operations
look at the games themselves to get a reasonable Research and Systems Simulation. Other ideas
explanation. will be based on experience gained "the hard way"
It often helps to better understand a muddled (by spending many hours on a few games which
picture (such as computer gaming) for one to netted little better than minimum wage). Finally, I
generalize a bit. For the purposes of discussion, hope to convey some of the things that others have
let's say there are two extreme types of games: discovered. (Towards that end, anyone with
abstract and realistic. Checkers would be a good interesting ideas to contribute, please contact me
example of an extremely abstract game and war- through Computer Gaming World.) But, even if
games could represent the other end of the you are not interested in designing games, you
spectrum. However, wargames can vary con- should at least be aware of some of the things
siderably in their realism versus abstraction which will help you become a more discriminating
balance. Chess, for instance, could be considered consumer of what the marketplace offers.
to be a very abstract wargame. So, instead of two I look forward to the day when simulation
categories in which we could dump all games, games will fulfill the potential I believe they have.
abstract and realistic are the extreme points on a I hope you will become a believer too!
line. Checkers would fall very close to the abstract
end of the line and moving toward realism you Dan Bunten is the author of Computer Quarter-
might find chess, Monopoly and wargames in that back, Cartels and Cutthroats, and Cytron Masters;
order all published by Strategic Simulations.
by Stuart Gorrie
BASIC INFORMATION you enjoy playing Blackjack, you is displayed to the right of the screen.
can play this one for hours. Upon game entry, you once again
NAME: Casino have a stake of $1000 and are offered
Your next choice is Keno. Here,
TYPE: Card Game the opportunity to declare the value
again, it appears to be a fairly
SYSTEM: Emulation)
Apple II (Apple III of your betting chips. Should you
standard game. A grid of ten by
eight numbers (80) is displayed. You desire to change the chip value
FORMAT: Diskette during the game, you may do so. For
may choose from one to fifteen
# PLAYERS: 1 the placement of bets, cursor move-
numbers by moving the cursor to
AUTHOR: Bob Rosen ment is required. Bets are placed
selected positions on the grid. When
PRICE: $39.95 using the "B" key and multiple bets
the amount of numbers you indicate
PUBLISHER: Datamost per cursor placement are possible
have been selected, the game draws
9748 Coztcroft Ave simply by depressing the "B" key
it's numbers. As it selects it's
Chatsworth, CA 91311 the desired number of times. The
numbers, the grid is marked to keep
(213)6-70 wheel is spun and where she stops
it's selections separate from yours.
For those of you who are interested It marks common selections so that nobody knows. Payoff is thirty-six
in unusual values, here's one that the end result, from Keno's point of to one for a one number bet, eighteen
you should consider. Take a look at view, is yours, mine and ours. Payoff to one for a two number bet, nine to
CASINO by Data Most. This is an is based on an algorithm dependent one for a four number bet, two to one
unusual value as it contains five on the amount numbers you picked. for a red/black bet and two to one for
games on one disk. For a mere If you choose to bet the same card an odd/even bet. The graphics are
$39.95, you receive Blackjack, Keno, more than once, simply suffix an fairly well done and the spinning of
Poker, Roulette and Baccarat. "S" to your bet and your previous the wheel is accurate. For betting
selections will remain in effect. purposes, the cursor movement is a
CASINO provides it's user with a little slow and the mechanics of it
little personal touch. As you enter Moving right along, we find the could be improved. It is, however,
the CASINO, you are greeted and next game to be Poker. Mind you still an enjoyable game; so place
asked your name. CASINO knows if this is not a normal game of poker, your bets and spin the wheel.
you have been here before, as, you since it has no adversary, as such.
see, it keeps track of it's clientele. Your competition is the standard
The last choice is Baccarat. Player
CASINO knows all about you. The list of resultant hands obtainable in and dealer are each dealt two cards
program not only provides you with a game of draw poker. Play begins which are then totaled. The value of
a menu of the five game choices, it with you placing a bet. Already at a dis- the low order digit of the total is
also provides you an additional four advantage, because you have not what is important in the game.
utility choices. The New Player yet seen your cards, you must deter- Player and dealer each have a
option allows you to complete play mine what to bet. You are then dealt different set of rules for play that are
as one person and resume play as your five cards and have an op- hierarchical. For a total of zero thru
another person. It also allows you to portunity to discard up to three. The four, the player must draw a card.
delete players from the list whom cards are numbered left to right, one With a total of five, the player has
you are sure will never again return. thru five, so you simply select the the option of drawing a card or
Stats allows you to examine the play discards by their number. Your passing. Given a total of six or seven,
record of any client, tracking the discards are replaced with the draw the player must pass and for totals
winnings and losses of all games and there you have it. You have a of eight or nine he must show his
played. Music simply allows you to standard obtainable hand or you cards. The dealer rules are a little
turn on or off the music which don't--and therein lies the payoff easier. For totals of zero thru five,
accompanies the play. Finally, Quit determination. The payoffs are $1 the dealer must draw a card. The
permits you to quit; at which time it for one pair (J thru A), $2 for two
dealer must stand on totals of six
bids you good-by, come again. pair, $6 for three of a kind, $11 for a
thru nine. In the environment
flush (this game), $26 for a full house, presented here, the player must be
The game of Blackjack is fairly $101 for four of a kind and $1001 for
standard. You are playing against a quite familiar with the rules as there
a straight flush (ahmen). This style is very little player-micro inter-
dealer and may double down on card
of poker is sterile, as it has, amongst action. The game is fairly fast and
totals less than 12 and on soft totals. other lackings, no allowance for
You may split any pair or 10 count automatic except for the circum-
bluffing. You should at least be stances where the player has a five
cards but may only draw one card allowed to view your cards before
on split aces. The dealer must hit on point total with the option to draw or
you place your initial bet. pass and the dealer has less than
totals of 16 or less and stand on
totals of 17 and above. Insurance is six. At this point, you have to input
offered and pays two for one along The next choice is Roulette. It's your choice. Aside from that, the
with blackjack. In terms of the standard, easy to play and, graphi- only other time you interact is when
micro-machine interface, unless you cally, it's fairly well done. The you bet. For the beginner, this game
demand the personal touch, one playing field is displayed to the left can be frustrating due to the short
dealer is as good as another. This is of the screen and the roulette wheel, display time for each play. You must
a fair game of blackjack. Starting called "Roulette Square" because pay strict attention to what goes on
the round, as you do, with $1000, if squares are easier to do graphically, to see how the hierarchy works.
Unfortunately, I found the solution The recent months have seen
disappointing. There are a lot of several games come on the market
false trails, which is understand- which try to marry arcade and
MICRO - able, and even good. A real murder
mystery would have false trails.
There is a lot of evidence which isn't
strategy game elements. These games,
of which CE -Software's MISSION
ESCAPE and Avalon Hill's GUNS
REVIEWS needed, which would also be true of
a murder mystery. Actually, a person
could stumble on the solution on
OF FORT DEFIANCE are good
examples, are games which emphasize
the mental aspect of a strategy game
their first or second try, but it will while also requiring the agility so
take most people a LONG time. Four important to the arcade game. To a
DEADLINE friends and I worked on it as a group degree BEZ-MX falls into this hybrid
and solved it in about a month. game category.
BASIC INFORMATION On the bright side, this is a BEZ-MX is a two player wargame
thoroughly intriguing adventure. It in which the players try to destroy
NAME: Deadline has some very good features that each other's military-industrial strength
TYPE: Adventure/Mystery aren't apparent--for instance, if you while preserving their own. There is
SYSTEM: Apple II, Atari 400/800. arrest someone, you had better have a basic game and an advanced game.
IBM PC. NEC PC-8000, evidence--you won't really find out if In the basic game players deal with
CP/M, PDP-11 you have enough evidence until they two variables; the deployment of
FORMAT: Disk are on trial. Once, I got the correct their MX missiles and the utilization
PRICE: $49.95 murderer, but didn't have the right of BEZ-1 bombers. The MX missiles
PUBLISHER: Infocom evidence, so the person got off free. can be moved between silos or fired
55 Wheeler St. You do indeed have to prove they did at enemy targets. The BEZ-1 bombers
Cambridge, MA 02138 it beyond a reasonable doubt, and can be used to fly bombing missions
had a motive. This is something or to intercept enemy planes (which
Deadline is a classic adventure
many detective shows on TV lack-- results in the destruction of both
program by INFOCOM, the people they don't follow up the case.
currently publishing Zork and Zork planes). Bombing missions are exe-
II. Happily, it uses the same type of In all, I thoroughly recommend cuted by entering the coordinates of
command parser as the Zorks, and the adventure, despite my dislike of the target and sending the bomber
it's specialized vocabulary gives you the solution. After all, I have no say on it's way. Intercept missions can
the feeling of really being there. It is in who murdered who, it's merely be flown with the aid of paddles (the
frustrating, involved, and realistic. my job to find out "who done it." arcade element of the game) or by
Much of my recommendation lies on entering a flight plan through the
The documentation for this pro- keyboard.
the excellent command parser, as
gram is excellent, taking such forms well as my love for mysteries. This
as a lab report, police statements, Movement of MX missiles seems
made me feel like a detective, frustra- to serve but one purpose. MX missiles
coroner findings, and the like. That
tion and all. I'm waiting for the next in launch sites closer to the center of
gives you the basic evidence you one.
need to proceed. the country have a better chance of
Deirdre Maloy intercepting enemy planes as they
Some of the commands available cross the border (that's right, the
are new, and are extremely useful. missiles can perform either
You can catch someone's attention BEZ-MX ground-to-air missions or strategic bombing
(if they are moving away from you) missions). Earthquakes can occur
by calling their name. You can in- which can destroy launch sites and/or
terrogate them by saying something roads which lead from site to site.
along the lines of "Glenda, tell me
about Fritz". It can either be a person The real strength of BEZ-MX is in
or an object you ask about. Also, the the advanced game which requires
"show me" (as in "Fred, show me planning. In addition to the elements
the keys") is useful. There are many in the basic game, players of the
other questions you can ask, too. advanced game must maintain in-
dustrial production in a war situa-
Other commands available are: tion. Players assign the population
ACCUSE someone OF something, of their countries to work on the
ANALYZE something (gets police farm, factory, airfield, or city. You
lab to check for common things), can have the people work in these
ANALYZE something FOR some- areas (which will help keep military
thing (more specific and usually goods in production) or you can hide
more accurate), ARREST someone(s), BASIC INFORMATION your population in shelters (per-
ASK someone ABOUT something, NAME: BEZ-MX serving population but ending pro-
FINGERPRINT something, LOOK TYPE: Wargame/arcade duction). Strategy entails keeping
BEHIND something (LOOK UNDER SYSTEM: Apple II production up while exposing
also works), and SHOW something FORMAT: Disk the smallest amount of population
TO someone (usually to provoke a # PLAYERS: 1 to 2 to destruction as possible. For example,
reaction) all add to the flavor of the AUTHOR: John Besnard if you put a large percentage of
game. The command structure is PRICE: $29.95 population in the factory, you will
also a bit freer than that of their PUBLISHER: BEZ increase production but could suffer
previous adventures, which makes 4790 Irvine Blvd., Box 19633 a terrible loss if the enemy bombs
the game almost conversational. Irvine, CA. 92714 the factory that turn.
While BEZ-MX is a two player cavalry, or infantry in making his game version. One of the most valu
game, a solitaire version is available courageous (defiant?) stand. The able is with the infantry attack. When
for human vs. computer play. The game is simple in game mechanics, your fire is effective enough to en-
computer opponent is smart enough but has some wicked facets to danger the morale of the infantry,
to analyze human strategy on prior master. they halt, dress ranks and fire off a
turns and plan it's move accordingly. volley. This develops a smoke screen
There are several interesting
Therefore a variety of strategies is which disrupts your aim for two to
variables which keep this from being
needed to successfully compete with three shots. Then, when you do
just another arcade game. First,
the computer. successfully rout the infantry, the
there is a handicap. This number,
figures run away, leaving muskets
Documentation is adequate. The ranging from the simplest (1) to the
and packs behind them. The smoke-
rule book does a good job of describing most difficult (63 on the Apple, 64 on
screens enhance the play of the game
most of what you need to know. The others) determines how difficult the
and the graphics enhance the joy of
rules include a page of strategy tips scenario will be in terms of am-
winning. Another interesting "Ap-
but there are a lot of techniques left munition available (type and amount)
ple" graphic is the ability to adjust
for the players to discover on their and casualties needed to inflict for a
the tint so that the player may fight
own. There are still plenty of ideas rout. When the player routs the
either British (redcoats) or American
that the players will have to develop enemy, the handicap is increased
(bluecoats) troops (Anglophiles take
on their own. A hardcopy of the map and, of course, when the player's
heart!)
is included for plotting coordinates crew runs away, the reverse is true.
of attack. The physical presentation Although I haven't gotten beyond Graphics aside, the Apple enables
of the game (i.e. rule book, zip-lock 53 yet, the computer does seem to players to take turns and keep their
bag, intro screen) is not as glossy as figure in how quickly and efficiently handicaps up-to-date by repeating
the larger software houses but is one deals with a given situation as it the briefing prior to each game. Also,
adequate. revises the handicap after the conclu- the audible beep when a shot ef-
sion of each scenario. This is a fectively hits the enemy howitzer is
The pure arcadist will probably
feature to keep the game challenging, most helpful.
not find BEZ-MX his cup of tea but
long after the basics are down pat.
for those of you who like strategy GUNS OF FORT DEFIANCE is
games with a little arcade flavor, at an exciting addition to a game library
$29.95 BEZ-MX is worth considering. Second, one of the most important because: 1) it offers a challenging
decisions for a gun commander to game without tying the player up for
Luther Shaw
make is selecting which type of long time periods; 2) it's easy to
rounds to fire. The basic ammunition teach the mechanics to a beginner;
is ball and canister. The program and 3) the handicap system enables
GUNS OF FORT DEFIANCE also has allowances for double the game to grow with your own
canister. Beyond these basic ammo ability.
types, the player may opt for spheri-
cal case or shell ammunition. These by Johnny L. Wilson
last two types add another variable
—fuse length. One can choose the TSUNAMI
right ammo and range and the wrong
fuse length will still produce negligi-
ble results.
The player can use these ammo
types in conjunction with one an-
other to a good strategic advantage.
For example, the player may fire the
more readily available ball am-
munition until he finds the range
BASIC INFORMATION and then switch to the more ef-
NAME: Guns Of Fort Defiance fective, but less plentiful, spherical
TYPE: Strategy/Arcade case ammunition. Further, experi-
SYSTEM: APPLE II, TRS-80. PET, ence soon teaches one that ball ammo
ATARI is not very effective in counter-
FORMAT: Tape and disk artillery fire and that it is foolish to BASIC INFORMATION
# OF PLAYERS: 1 wait for cavalry to reach double NAME: Tsunami
AUTHOR: David A. Wesely canister range. TYPE: Arcade
PRICE: $20.00 to $25.00 Finally, the gun commander must SYSTEM: Apple II
PUBLISHER: Avalon Hill Microcomputer determine range and deflection (i.e. FORMAT: Diskette (DOS 3.3)
Games aim). As the handicap increases, # PLAYERS: 1 to 4
4517 Harford Road this seems to be more and more AUTHOR: Rodney McAuley
Baltimore, Maryland 21214 important. The cavalry, especially, PRICE: $29.95
have a tendency to be able to close PUBLISHER: Creative Computing Software
In GUNS OF FORT DEFIANCE
range faster than my befuddled 39 E. Hanover Ave.
the player commands a gun crew
fingers can type orders. Hence, one Morris Plains, NJ 07950
which protects a partially unfinished
often has to think ahead in terms of (800) 631-8112
American stockade from the on-
range estimation.
slaughts of those imperialistic "lob- Here is yet another derivative of
ster-bellies" in the War of 1812. The The "Apple" version has some SPACE INVADERS. This one is
player may be faced with artillery, interesting differences with the basic actually 12 games in 1; selectable
from a menu that also lets you turn exciting and challenging game. The Continued from pg. 1.
the sound off and choose either game is based on miniature golf,
paddle. Each game consists of a meaning that bounce shots come The single most common response
sequence of "attacks" with the aliens into play and are very important. on the comment section of the
coming at you in a different pattern Play is controlled with paddles or READER INPUT DEVICE is "please
each time. Most of the games use keys. You control the angle at which run more articles on... (you fill in the
eight attack patterns (which repeat you will hit the ball and how hard blank)". You readers want more ad-
predictably); but some use sixteen. you will hit it. The game comes with venture articles, more arcade articles,
They may move horizontally, they three 18-hole courses, plus the ability more wargame articles, more Atari
may bounce, jitter, or weave sine to make your own courses. This is an articles, and on and on. That excites
wave patterns. Sometimes the only excellent feature because you can us and we hope to do more. But the
danger is from bombs they drop, really get creative with these courses number of articles is not only limited
while at other times they come at and play them in any shape you by space; to a larger degree it is
you like kamikazes. At other times want like ships, people's faces, or limited by the number of good articles
the aliens have defensive barriers whatever. we receive. With each issue we enjoy
which protect them from your shots; a larger supply of good, interesting
You can play the game with one to
sort of like SPACE INVADERS in articles, but we still need more. Keep
four players. Playing alone is fun,
reverse. them coming. Write us letters. Fill
but with more players, it can be
While the difficulty level ranges really exciting. The program keeps out the READER INPUT DEVICES.
from very easy to moderate, things track of everyone's score and par for Enjoy the magazine.
are complicated by the presence of a each pole. Of the three courses, two
timer. If time runs out, you lose your are miniature golf type shapes with
base anyway so you have to be lots of banking coming into play.
quick! The timer resets for each new The third course is a really beautiful
wave, with any time left on the timer course where you play on animal-
after you shoot the last alien converted shaped holes, everything from pigs
into bonus points. to dragons. These seem very complex,
but many of them can be scored
PLEASE
Although you can always abort
the game with RETURN or the
hole-in-one with the right angle on
your tee shot.
TAKE TIME
spacebar, there is no pause function.
I don't see this as a drawback since
you always get a pause between
Creating your own hi-res course is
at first somewhat complex, but it is
TO FILL OUT
attacks. Perhaps more important is
the inability to play the game without
not hard to get the hang of it. This is
what will make the game remain
READER INPUT
a paddle. interesting after the time when you
get so you know all of the courses
DEVICE
What is most interesting about
TSUNAMI is the fact that the actions
of the aliens are similar to a number
and how to beat them. You can
create your own courses, making (P. 40)
them as easy or as hard as you wish.
of different arcade games that fall in
When creating your courses, you
the SPACE INVADER family. The
decide where the ball will be to start,
player will recognize several familiar
where the cup will be, the position of
patterns in the various attack patterns
any obstacles, and par for the course.
of TSUNAMI. Some of those that After you have created your master-
will occur are: Centipede, Space In-
pieces, you then save it on disk. This
vaders, Galaxian, and Circus. For may either be the MICRO GOLF
those who like "Invader" games,
disk itself or a back-up disk created
TSUNAMI will be of great interest by the program. Once you have saved
due to it's variety and professional
on disk, you can go to the golf program
quality. itself and try out your hole.
Bob Proctor
One feature that you have to look
out for — the person who scored the
MICRO GOLF lowest on the last hole shoots first
on the next. This is in the spirit of
BASIC INFORMATION real golf, but if you don't know this
NAME: Micro Golf is going on, the score will be all
TYPE: Arcade sports game jumbled.
SYSTEM: Apple II ((48K)
One of the best features of this
FORMAT: Disk
game is that it is not limited to a
4 PLAYERS: 1 to 4 special age or interest group. It is
PRICE: $19.95 great for showing people your com-
PUBLISHER: Creative Computing Software puter because there aren't hefty rules
39 E. Hanover Ave. to learn, you can just start playing,
Morris Plains. NJ 07950 and it is still very challenging for
everyone.
Though the name sounds rather
ordinary, MICRO GOLF is a very Bob Boyd
Continued from pg. 8 is going to attack with six or more is to use two Alliance Dreadnoughts
ships then it will be better to parry and a Cruiser. Use the Cruiser as
the blow by turning to a heading of your decoy by moving it slowly
enemy is coming straight at you. 090 degrees and reinforcing shields toward the Starbase. All extra ener-
Maneuver your Fighter directly 4, 5, and 6. gy should go to the front shield.
behind the Freighter and have both You'll have to stop about 16 to 17
ships launch drones at the enemy's After this the game becomes a free
for all with ships everywhere. How- Mk. from the Starbase which will be
lead ship. good enough.
ever, because its ships are scattered,
In the second turn the enemy ships the computer has lost the initiative. While you're positioning your
will swoop down on your Freighter. You should just keep moving, turning Cruiser, the Dreadnoughts should
The lead ship may hold its position and firing. It will be like shooting be overcharging their photon tor-
and reinforce its shield but it can't fish in a barrel. pedoes and picking up speed by
defend against two drones. Move running in a circle. When your
both your ships forward at 8 Mk. Attack on an Outpost by Fighters
Cruiser is positioned you want to
and put all your Freighter's extra In this scenario you will use four maneuver your Dreadnoughts so
energy into the front shield. Launch or five Fighters to create a drone they finish their turn behind your
a drone at the two remaining enemy swarm. To achieve a decisive victory Cruiser facing the Starbase about 18
ships and lock your phasers on the you would use four Fighters, which to 23 Mk. away and with a speed of
closer ship. The Freighter should will give a higher victory point total, 20 Mk.
fire at a range of 5 Mk. and the but I suggest you use five because
Fighter, last instant. If the enemy the two extra drones can mean the In this next turn set the speed of
eludes the drone then it will take the difference between success and each Dreadnought so you wind up
Freighter's phasers in the rear as it failure. just short of the Starbase. Energize
flys over. If it peels off it will still get all transporters, including the Crui-
hit in the side by one of the phasers Normally you would use fleet ser's, and fire your photon torpedoes
along with your Fighter's phasers. orders, but on the first turn give at a range of 3 Mk. and your board-
individual instructions to your Fight- ing parties aboard. You may also
If any of the enemy do get through, ers so you can rendezvous in a tight find the Starbase firing its photon
Freighter's front shield may be badly cluster about 35 Mk. from the Out- torpedoes at your lead Dreadnought.
damaged or destroyed. If there are post. On turn two set speed at 11 Mk.
any surviving enemy ships then and use any extra energy for rein- With luck you should knock out
have your Freighter hold his posi- forcing the front shield. On turn most of the Starbase weapons but
tion and turn around while your three, charge one phaser, launch a you may still lose one of your Dread-
Fighter moves out to intercept. drone and set speed to 15 Mk. You noughts on this next turn. Hold your
will finish this turn at a range less position, recharge your phasers and
From here on it will be best to transporters and put all additional
than 15 Mk. and will lose one ship to
move your Freighter backwards energy into your facing shield. Fire
phaser fire. Don't bother reinforcing
while reinforcing its rear shield. immediately to knock out general
shields because at this range the
Remember, when you are allocating shield support and get your second
effort is futile and the energy wasted.
energy and moving, it takes fifty wave of boarding parties aboard.
percent more energy to move back- Now on turn four, charge your Your Cruiser is no longer in danger
wards and you have to input head- second phaser, launch your last of being fired upon, so you can start
ings that are 180 degrees off from drone, accelerate to 19 Mk. and fire bringing it up to add its fire power to
the direction you want to move. your phasers using the last instant your attack.
command. Move your fleet on the
Dreadnought vs. nine Imperial In the next turn you will want to
heading toward the Outpost for
Raiders time your fire to hit the open shield
twelve time points. This should put
This should be the easiest victory you past the Outpost where you as it comes around. The Starbase
you'll ever score. The enemy has want to make a hard right turn to rotates 200 degrees in a turn and the
twice as many total Starship points bring you facing the Outpost. This same point you hit before will be
as your ship and with a little care facing your ship about time point
will, hopefully, put you in position
you shouldn't even lose a shield. You 12 or 13. Your Cruiser should be in
to fire into the open shield on your
can use either Dreadnought but I range by that time to fire its photon
next turn.
prefer the Klarson because you can torpedoes. The Starbase will be so
The drones and perhaps your crippled by now that it is only a
attack a fourth ship each turn by
phaser fire will not all hit the same matter of time before it is destroyed,
launching a drone.
shield, but enough damage should so keep firing your phasers each
Maintain a steady speed of 6 to 8 be done to cripple the Outpost. If you turn to destroy a shield and inflict
Mk. for the duration of the game. fail to destroy the Outpost, then use additional damage.
Start by moving straight at the what fighters you have left to fire at ***
enemy and launch a type two drone the beginning of the next turn. If
at the lead ship. you hit an open shield you should The strategies presented in this
destroy the Outpost. article can be applied to most any
The computer doesn't handle large
numbers of ships very well and will scenario; I hope they lead you to
Attack on a Starbase great victories and increased enjoy-
probably only mobilize half its fleet.
If this is the case then continue Attacking a Starbase is a difficult ment from THE WARP FACTOR.
moving at the enemy and put your task if you limit yourself to ships SSI will be releasing a new space
extra energy into the front shield. that have a total starship value of wargame this summer written by
Lock your weapons on three ships so twenty-four points. You may not THE WARP FACTOR'S designer,
they fire at a range of 5 Mk. If, on the achieve a decisive victory against a Paul Murray. Fans of THE WARP
other hand, it looks like the computer Starbase but your best chance to do so FACTOR won't want to miss it.
Continued from pg. 29 Continued from pg. 30
anti-tank strengths are printed directly on the couple seconds when a tank is around. Fortunately,
counters, with a review accessible on the back the tanks can only hit you while you are on the
page of the rules booklet. Mechanized units have ground. You can take off and begin to fire back.
the ability to fire on enemy mechanized units The trouble is that at times it seems like you have
during the enemy movement phase. Artillery run into a whole armored division instead of the
units can fire indirectly at targets up to five few you might expect to meet. Once the immediate
squares away if they haven't been moved or area is cleared of tanks you can land and take on
attacked, and are in static mode. hostages. The 'copter can hold 16 persons (by
coincidence the same as the number of hostages in
The Game as Game each barrack). When you get as close to a full load
The flow of play is fast with victory being won as you can (or want to) you high-tail it back to your
by possession of geographic objectives. There are side of the border and disembark the rescued
six possible sites that represent strategically vital hostages at the U.S. Postal Service distribution
areas. The only possible criticism of DNIEPER center (you read it right!--Your helicopter was
RIVER LINE by this reviewer is the exclusively smuggled into the center, disguised as a mail
territorial nature of the victory conditions. A sorting machine).
possible alternative could have been another On your first trip you have only the tanks with
algorithm (yet more complex!) incorporating gener- which to contend. After your first trip, however,
al disruption levels and territorial control for the the jet fighters come into play and a little later the
victory conditions, reported each turn. drone air mines begin to pursue you. The jet
With skill and pluck, victory is possible a fighters can either shoot you down with missiles
majority of times. Critical decisions have to be or bomb you on the ground. You will find they will
made early, and these decisions have a critical be bothersome on your way in if you keep your gun
effect on later play. Infantry-based units have firing at the edge of the screen where they are
good defensive abilities, but have difficulty runn- likely to appear. The real tricky part is the flight
ing between emergencies. Mechanized units are back. They seem to be more numerous and more
fast and useful for "fire-brigades", but have deadly then. There is nothing more frustrating in
limited staying power. Odds of 2 to 1 or better are this game than to successfully rescue 16 hostages
necessary for a reasonable chance of success, odds on the ground in the midst of hostile tank and
which (unfortunately for the German player) are fighter fire only to have all 16 die in a firey crash
difficult to attain in counterattacks. on the way back to base. While the fighters are
The basic problem for the German player is quite dangerous when you are airboard, they are
having to run between emergencies (that are less a problem when you are on the ground. When
immediate and unpredictable) with insufficient your 'copter is on the surface the fighters will
forces; or, in other words, "how can you be two make a bombing run. Most of the time they will
places at once when you're not anywhere at all?" miss your plane (although the bomb it drops will
Often objective sites simply cannot be held with often take out a hostage). I tend to ignore the
thinly-dispersed forces, and must be yielded up to planes when they are on their bomb runs which
the maws of the Russian juggernaut. The timely gives me more time to get hostages aboard.
arrival of desperately needed reserves and art- The drone air mines will pursue your 'copter
illery interdiction can save the situation, however. once they find you, however they are fairly easily
A typical level 3 (difficult) or level 4 (very difficult) avoided and can be shot down without too much
game can last the entire 8 turns, with the outcome trouble. The most dangerous time of mission will
completely unpredictable, as German units are be when you are in transit from the rescue site to
decimated while trying (in vain) to hold major the base (and vice-a-versa). It is very common to be
objective squares. The presence of partisans and flying along and have a fighter or a drone streak
paratroopers can add even greater frustration to in without warning and send you and your would
the predicament of the German player, as weak be survivors to a firey grave (even the burning
Russian units slip into ungarrisonned objectives 'copter is realistic enough to remind one of the U.S.
by the back door (objectives once taken are fiasco in the Iranian desert).
irretrievably lost to the Russians). There are 64 hostages each of which is worth one
DNIEPER RIVER LINE incorporates the point if transported safely to the distribution
elements of historical accuracy, as well as fast- center. Thus the high score is 64. But don't scoff at
paced situation-in-doubt play to produce a well this low "scoring ceiling". Getting all 64 home
developed game which computer wargamers should safely is a task that few garners are likely to ever
"check out". accomplish.
Continued from pg. 5 Sentient Software 6619
Sensible Software
Box 4929 Perham Dr.
The Software Farm, Inc. Aspen, CO 81612 West Bloomfield, NI 48033
3901 So. Elkhart St. QUADRANT 6112: This is a
CONGO: You are on a raft in the
Aurora, CO 80014 space combat game similar to the
Congo River and must avoid
CRICKETTER: Similar to the coin-op game Omega Race. Rebel
rapids, natives, and other assorted
popular arcade game FROGGER, ships enter space through star-
dangers as you rescue survivors
CRICKETEER involves getting gates. Your task is to shoot them
on the way to saving yourself. In
your cricket safely across a busy down while patrolling the quadrant.
this arcade game you must make
highway and a dangerous river. Scores go up as you complete laps
use of the flow of the river along
Hazards are birds which can swoop around the quadrant while blasting
with your ability to paddle upriver
down and eat the cricket, fast the enemy.
to avoid danger and reach your
moving vehicles, and flotsam which Krell Software Corp.
goal.
doesn't always float. Along the 21 Millbrook Dr.
way your apparently male cricket GOLD RUSH: A graphic game Stony Brook, NY 11790
can get extra points for pairing in which the player makes his SUPER STAR/ALL STAR
up with a lady cricket and getting way from the train station to a BASEBALL: A rather poor
her safely across the river. Ad- mine. His way is blocked by attempt at a stat baseball game.
ditional points can be had for several evils including a claim Players select their team members
jumping into a home box contain- jumper. The game requires quick from lists of stars, past and
ing food particles. reflexes. To relax even a brief present. Once the teams are
Riverbank Software Inc. moment will most liking result in selected the gamers have performed
Smith's Landing Road death. their primary task in the game.
P.O. Box 128 CYBORG: Written by the author The computer plays the game
Denton, MD 21629 of the popular Oo-TOPOS ad- allowing limited user interaction.
INTERNATIONAL GRAN venture, CYBORG is an adventure Your starting pitcher stays in the
PRIX: A very well done game of game with a twist -- there are no whole game. Runs on the Apple,
GRAND PRIX car racing. You sit treasures or scores. CYBORG con- PET, and TRS-80.
behind the wheel while running tains real-time graphics simula- ISSAC NEWTON + F.G.
any one of five different courses. tion and character development. NEWTON: ISSAC NEWTON is
Courses include Oulton Park, War- You play the character of a a game of logic in which players
wick Farm, Karlskoga, Monaco, CYBORG, complete with a second must assemble evidence and dis-
and one fictional course, River- opinion running around in your cern the "Laws of Nature" which
bank. We hope to print maps of head provided by the electronic have produced the evidence. FULL
the courses in a future issue. brain which NASA II planted in GRAPHICS NEWTON presents
Taaumi Software your brain (thanks, guys). Well- the same game in graphic form
8 North Grosvenor Ave. done. and is suitable for children.
Burnaby, B.C. V5B 1J2 CE Software HAL LABS
801 73rd St. 4074 Midland Rd. Suite 23
HORSE RACING CLASSIC: Riverside, CA 92505
The best looking horse racing Des Moines, IA 50312
game on the market. HRC is a SHEILA: SHEILA contains ad-
SWORDTHRUST 6: "The
simulation of thoroughbred horse venture game elements in what is
Eternal Curse" -- Don Brown's
racing and track betting. The basically an maze-chase type
sixth game in the ongoing series.
simulation includes a history of arcade game. Your task is to fight
the most recent races for each SWORDTHRUST 7: "The Hall through five levels of a castle and
horses in the race (set up like the of Alchemie" -- the seventh game rescue SHEILA who is locked in a
racing form). There are 100 horses in the series and the first by a tower. A variety of weapons and
in the program's data file. A very writer other than Don Brow, Peter magical items can be found which
good party game. Wityk. can assist you.
by inputting information into a disk addition to this book of adventurers.
Continued from pg. '
data file and then reading it back as Although the $19.95 price tag is a
basic statement lines. bit steep (considering the economy
If you still have doubt about the
wisdom of buying a book full of Admittedly, it's an experimental level quality of the printing and
previously published programs, design. The finished adventure pro- binding), the book is still a great
"Captain 80" offers one more in- gram which it produces is as bare- value if you really intend to make
centive: Part two offers a particularly boned as an underweight Greyhound use of all the program listings. The
unique program. Computer programs and may require debugging. But the bad news, of course, is that it will
designed to create other programs novelty of this generator program take you about three months of
are receiving attention throughout outweighs its handicaps. Even at its steady typing to input the listings
the industry, evidenced by recent current stage of development, the and another three months to debug
demonstrations at computer fairs "Adventure Generator" can be used your typographical errors. I'm still
and exhibitions. The "Adventure to quickly create a series of simple, working on this task myself, so I
Generator", provided in part two, is personalized mini-adventures. And can't tell you if all of the programs
an experimental entry in this field. it may provide a glimpse of the run as advertised. If I find any
Authored by freelance programmer future, when humans will simply errors, I'll let you know in future
David Huntress, it is a previously write computer programs which, in issues. In the meantime, watch out
unreleased program which creates a turn, will produce other programs. for sleeping dragons, and have fun
basic language adventure program It's an interesting and appropriate adventuring!
READER INPUT DEVICE #3
GAMES
Rate the following games using a
scale of 1 (terrible) to 9 (outstanding)
for each of the categories below;
PRESENTATION: Rate overall
presentation of the game. This in-
cludes such factors as graphics,
sound, packaging, documentation.
GAME DESIGN: Rate the game
design itself. Apart from the pre-
sentation is the game well designed,
playable, interesting? Are there pro-
blems in the design which make the MISCELLANEOUS
game less than it should be?; LIFE: (Use "PRS" box)
Does the game wear well? Does one
bore of the game easily or does it still
command interest after multiple plays?
Enter "0" in the first box for any
game which you have not played or
have not played enough to have
ARTICLES
formed an opinion. Rate the articles in this issue on a
scale of 1 (terrible) to 9 (outstanding).
If the article does not interest you
enter 0. Use "PRS" box.
RESULTS OF
R.I.D. #2
There were 121 Reader Input
Devices turned in by press time for
this issue. Of this number 64% were
Apple users, 26% Atari users, 6%
TRS-80 users, 4% others. All but two
of the 29 games offered for review in
R.I.D. #2 received enough responses
to be included in the results. If a
game is not evaluated by at least
10% of the user group to which the
game belongs (i.e. Apple, Atari,
TRS-80, etc.) it will not be included
in the R.I.D. Results.
The "% Play" column indicates
what percentage of the respondents
which have the appropriate machine
have played the game. For example,
EASTERN FRONT was played and
evaluated by 89% of the respondents
who have an Atari 400/800.
Our special question last issue
had to do with PIRACY. We asked
you to tell us which of the games
listed you had bought and which
you had pirated copies of. The total
percentage of pirated games were
27%. The Apple games were 30%
pirated, the Atari games 9%, and the
TRS-80 games 8%.
-
