[{"TitleName":"Backgammon","Publisher":"Pi Software","Author":"Ian Marshall","YearOfRelease":"1982","ZxDbId":"0000370","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 1, Feb 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-01-19","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nDesigner: Oliver Frey\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nStaff Writers: Lloyd Mangram, Rod Bellamy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Edwards\r\nProduction Designer: Michael Arienti\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\n\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nMono printing, typesetting & finishing by Feb Edge Litho Ltd. [redacted]\r\nColour printing by Allan-Denver Web Offset Ltd. [redacted].\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post included)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post included).\r\nSingle copy: 75p\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to CRASH please send articles or ideas for projects to the above address. Articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope\r\n\r\nCover Illustration:Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: CP Software, 48K\r\n£5.95\r\n\r\nBackgammon a a board game using dice and counters. Its complexities are too detailed to go into here, but it is important that the cassette inlay contains full instructions for the beginniner. The CP Software version does so. Full board and counter display with two on-screen dice. For a single player against the computer.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"59","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 4, May 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-04-19","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":128,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nEditorial [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studio, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Plymouth Web Offset Ltd, [redacted].\r\nDistribution by Comag, [redacted]\r\nAdditional setting and process work by The Tortoise Shell Press, [redacted].\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £9.00 UK Mainland (post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £15 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH MICRO unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Producer: CP Software, 48K\r\n£5.95\r\n\r\nBackgammon a a board game using dice and counters. Its complexities are too detailed to go into here, but it is important that the cassette inlay contains full instructions for the beginniner. The CP Software version does so. Full board and counter display with two on-screen dice. For a single player against the computer.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"62","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 19, Oct 1983","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1983-09-15","Editor":"Nigel Clark","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Nigel Clark\r\nConsultant Editor: Mike Johnston\r\nProduction Editor: Harold Mayes MBE\r\nStaff Writer: John Gilbert\r\nProgram Reviewer: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nIllustrator/Designer: Brian King\r\nAdvertisement Manager: John Ross\r\nSales Executive: Annette Burrows\r\nEditorial Assistant: Margaret Hawkins\r\nProduction Assistant: Dezi Epaminondou\r\nManaging Director: Terry Cartwright\r\nChairman: Richard Hease\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by ECC Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nTelephone\r\nAll departments\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to any of the Sinclair User group of publications please send programs, articles or ideas for hardware projects to:\r\nSinclair User and Programs\r\nECC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe will pay £10 for each program published and £50 per 1,000 words for each article used.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1983\r\nSinclair User\r\nISSN NO. 0262-5458\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]"},"MainText":"ANCIENT GAME HAS VARIED SUCCESS ON THE SPECTRUM\r\n\r\nBackgammon has long been a popular game which requires a mixture of luck and skill. John Lambert reports on three versions.\r\n\r\nBackgammon is an ancient game involving much more skill than draughts, yet dependent more on luck than chess. It is as old, or possibly older than any of them. The ancient civilisations of China, India and Greece all offer possible birthplaces. There are three versions of the game for the Spectrum by Psion, 16K; Hewson Consultants, 16K; and CP Software 48K; all priced at £5.95.\r\n\r\nEach cassette has instructions for those new to the game. Those written for CP are good, clear and detailed. Backgammon is a complex game and the notes make play easy for a complete beginner. The Psion instructions are equally useful but those provided by Hewson are not nearly as well put together and might be confusing for the novice.\r\n\r\nWhen playing Backgammon, the visual impact of the board and layout of the 'men' is vitally important - you need to be able to assess your position and your opponents at a glance, so the graphics are a prime consideration.\r\n\r\nOn loading, Hewson offers a choice of single game, points series, gambling series or a demonstration game. The latter is very helpful for the newcomer and compensates a little for the deficiency in written instructions. There is also a choice of static levels and you can choose who starts the game, although, strictly speaking, that is against the rules.\r\n\r\nThe board is swiftly presented hut unfortunately it is not easy to see, either in colour or black and white. The 'men' do not stand out from the board and the computer moves are made much too quickly for the experienced player to follow, let alone the novice. A record of the moves appears on screen below the table. The Hewson graphics are simple and not very effective compared to the others.\r\n\r\nLoad the CP version and you are presented with brief instructions for play, which neither of the others provides on-screen, but there is no choice of skill level. The graphics are much better than those of Hewson, though the board is drawn very slowly, that part of the program being in Basic. The definition is good, making the men easily visible in colour, and only a little less so in black and white, but since the points are not coloured alternately as they should be it is often difficult to calculate your moves. In this program the chosen pieces flash before a move is made so that it is easy to follow and a record is kept below of the moves, but it is SLOW and your moves have to be entered singly, which can be frustrating when a double is thrown.\r\n\r\nIn its normal fashion, Psion presents a screen display for you to look at while the game is loading, even though the screen takes almost as long as the game to load. Incidentally that was a black mark for Psion; whoever drew its screen should have realised that opposite faces on a dice add to seven rather than adjacent ones. That criticism, however, should not detract from the spectacular nature of board display. You select from four skill levels, with a demonstration game available, and then are given the opportunity to input your own dice throws. It is the only one of the three which allows this, a feature which other games programmers would be wise to copy since your faith in the randomness of the RND generator will be shaken by the dice thrown in all the programs.\r\n\r\nThe board is drawn quickly with the points coloured alternately in black and white and the pieces, large enough to see easily, four character squares, in red and cyan. The definition is not lost when using a black and white television. The dice 'roll' in 3D up the screen and the pieces move across the board from point to point, making it simple to follow the course of the game. On the points with more than five men, the pieces appear to stand on their edges to make space, whereas the other two games resort to using numbers in that situation. When blots are hit, they travel gracefully to the bar, where a maximum of two men of any one player are shown at a time.\r\n\r\nIn the middle of the bar is the doubling cube, which moves from player to player in use. Hewson is the only other game to offer doubles but only in its gambling series.\r\n\r\nMoves can be changed after they have been made by use of the DELETE key, the men retracing their steps across the screen. EDIT elicits suggested moves to help the novice player throughout the game. The graphic display is well-designed and effective.\r\n\r\nAll the games use the conventional rules of play, as published by Hoyle, but for scoring CP has no doubling option, an integral part of the modern game. Hewson uses its own method of calculating points instead of the accepted one. Only Psion scores correctly.\r\n\r\nHewson plays erratically, sometimes being very conservative and at other times taking wild risks. Moreover, by moving about frequently within its own inner table it is unable to take full advantage of the dice. When playing a back game it does not persevere long enough and on one occasion when one of its men was on the bar and most of its opponent pieces had been borne off leaving a blot on the three, Hewson threw five/three and came in on the five, thus losing a gammon. Apart from that instance it usually 'hits' at almost every opportunity and so it can be trapped by a skilful opponent. On the whole the level of play, even at its highest, is moderate and does not provide a stimulating challenge to an experienced player.\r\n\r\nIt is interesting to note that M Male, the author, also wrote the excellent air traffic control simulation, Heathrow, for Hewson.\r\n\r\nCP is another fanatical taker, but rarely takes the conventional precaution of building houses in its inner table. On the rest of the board its moves are generally conservative but its defeats of Hewson, as indeed when Hewson beat it, depended on some very lucky dice throws towards the end of the game. The two programs are well matched, their skill levels being about the same and their strategies very similar.\r\n\r\nPsion plays a much more sensible game and provides more of a challenge. It makes better and more frequent use of the standard openings and its strategy throughout the game is more consistent. It protects its inner table and leaves few unnecessary blots but once again when playing a back game it tends to lack conviction and runs for home too soon.\r\n\r\nTo test the abilities of the games a 'tournament' was arranged. Each program played five games against each of the others. The results, shown in the table, were surprisingly even.\r\n\r\nIt was expected, on the basis of playing the game individually, that the result to be would Psion first, Hewson and then CP. None of those programs, however, can assess the play of its opponent, which is why they fail to take advantage of each other's faults. Human players would assess and eventually predict their opponent's moves, frustrating a back game by refusing to hit blots, or avoiding blots left as obvious traps.\r\n\r\nSince the programs cannot do that, the Psion game, for example, fails to realise that its opponents play consistently badly, and cannot capitalise on that as a human player does. For the same reasons, Hewson and CP opposed each other three times with identical strategies and neither was able to realise that and alter its play accordingly. The results therefore depended often merely on the luck of the dice.\r\n\r\nThe Psion game is programmed entirely in machine code and so uses the comparatively small space available on a 16K machine efficiently, even using the spare space in the printer buffer for the table of the positions of the men on the boards. When the Microdrive becomes available it may be a problem to fit it in. On the other hand Hewson and CP are written, predominantly in Basic, Hewson about 70 percent and CP nearly 90 percent; that makes them somewhat cumbersome and would, particularly in the case of CP, welcome the use of a good compiler.\r\n\r\nRESULTS\r\n\r\nPsion vs Hewson\r\n12345\r\nWBW Psion\r\nG W Hewson\r\nPsion wins 5/3\r\n\r\nHewson vs CP\r\n12345\r\nW Psion\r\nG GWW Hewson\r\nCP wins 8/1\r\n\r\nCP v Psion\r\n12345\r\nG G CP\r\nWWG Psion\r\nDraw\r\n\r\nW= Win, G = Gammon, B = Backgammon","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"48,49","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Lambert","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"'Results depended often merely on the luck of the dice.'"},{"Text":"'The CP graphics are much better than those of Hewson, though the board is drawn very slowly, that part being in Basic. The definition is good, making the men easily visible.'"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue Annual 1984,  1984","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1983-12-01","Editor":"Nigel Clark","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Managing Editor: Nigel Clark\r\nDeputy Editor: Nicole Segre\r\nConsultant Editor: Mike Johnston\r\nManaging Production Editor: Harold Mayes MBE\r\nSoftware Editor: John Gilbert\r\nProgram Reviewer: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nIllustrator/Designer: Brian King\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: John Ross\r\nSales Executive: Annette Burrows\r\nProduction Assistant: Dezi Epaminondou\r\nManaging Director: Terry Cartwright\r\nChairman: Richard Hease\r\n\r\nSinclair User Annual is published monthly by ECC Publications Ltd. It is in no way connected with Sinclair Research Ltd.\r\n\r\nTelephone\r\nAll departments\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to any of the Sinclair User group of publications please send programs, articles or ideas for hardware projects to:\r\nSinclair User and Programs\r\nECC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe pay £10 for the copyright of each program published and £50 per 1,000 words for each article used.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1983\r\nSinclair User\r\nISSN NO. 0262-5458\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]"},"MainText":"ANCIENT GAME HAS VARIED SUCCESS ON THE SPECTRUM\r\n\r\nBackgammon has long been a popular game which requires a mixture of luck and skill. John Lambert reports on three versions.\r\n\r\nBackgammon is an ancient game involving much more skill than draughts, yet dependent more on luck than chess. It is as old, or possibly older than any of them. The ancient civilisations of China, India and Greece all offer possible birthplaces. There are three versions of the game for the Spectrum by Psion, 16K; Hewson Consultants, 16K; and CP Software 48K; all priced at £5.95.\r\n\r\nEach cassette has instructions for those new to the game. Those written for CP are good, clear and detailed. Backgammon is a complex game and the notes make play easy for a complete beginner. The Psion instructions are equally useful but those provided by Hewson are not nearly as well put together and might be confusing for the novice.\r\n\r\nWhen playing Backgammon, the visual impact of the board and layout of the 'men' is vitally important - you need to be able to assess your position and your opponents at a glance, so the graphics are a prime consideration.\r\n\r\nOn loading, Hewson offers a choice of single game, points series, gambling series or a demonstration game. The latter is very helpful for the newcomer and compensates a little for the deficiency in written instructions. There is also a choice of static levels and you can choose who starts the game, although, strictly speaking, that is against the rules.\r\n\r\nThe board is swiftly presented hut unfortunately it is not easy to see, either in colour or black and white. The 'men' do not stand out from the board and the computer moves are made much too quickly for the experienced player to follow, let alone the novice. A record of the moves appears on screen below the table. The Hewson graphics are simple and not very effective compared to the others.\r\n\r\nLoad the CP version and you are presented with brief instructions for play, which neither of the others provides on-screen, but there is no choice of skill level. The graphics are much better than those of Hewson, though the board is drawn very slowly, that part of the program being in Basic. The definition is good, making the men easily visible in colour, and only a little less so in black and white, but since the points are not coloured alternately as they should be it is often difficult to calculate your moves. In this program the chosen pieces flash before a move is made so that it is easy to follow and a record is kept below of the moves, but it is SLOW and your moves have to be entered singly, which can be frustrating when a double is thrown.\r\n\r\nIn its normal fashion, Psion presents a screen display for you to look at while the game is loading, even though the screen takes almost as long as the game to load. Incidentally that was a black mark for Psion; whoever drew its screen should have realised that opposite faces on a dice add to seven rather than adjacent ones. That criticism, however, should not detract from the spectacular nature of board display. You select from four skill levels, with a demonstration game available, and then are given the opportunity to input your own dice throws. It is the only one of the three which allows this, a feature which other games programmers would be wise to copy since your faith in the randomness of the RND generator will be shaken by the dice thrown in all the programs.\r\n\r\nThe board is drawn quickly with the points coloured alternately in black and white and the pieces, large enough to see easily, four character squares, in red and cyan. The definition is not lost when using a black and white television. The dice 'roll' in 3D up the screen and the pieces move across the board from point to point, making it simple to follow the course of the game. On the points with more than five men, the pieces appear to stand on their edges to make space, whereas the other two games resort to using numbers in that situation. When blots are hit, they travel gracefully to the bar, where a maximum of two men of any one player are shown at a time.\r\n\r\nIn the middle of the bar is the doubling cube, which moves from player to player in use. Hewson is the only other game to offer doubles but only in its gambling series.\r\n\r\nMoves can be changed after they have been made by use of the DELETE key, the men retracing their steps across the screen. EDIT elicits suggested moves to help the novice player throughout the game. The graphic display is well-designed and effective.\r\n\r\nAll the games use the conventional rules of play, as published by Hoyle, but for scoring CP has no doubling option, an integral part of the modern game. Hewson uses its own method of calculating points instead of the accepted one. Only Psion scores correctly.\r\n\r\nHewson plays erratically, sometimes being very conservative and at other times taking wild risks. Moreover, by moving about frequently within its own inner table it is unable to take full advantage of the dice. When playing a back game it does not persevere long enough and on one occasion when one of its men was on the bar and most of its opponent pieces had been borne off leaving a blot on the three, Hewson threw five/three and came in on the five, thus losing a gammon. Apart from that instance it usually 'hits' at almost every opportunity and so it can be trapped by a skilful opponent. On the whole the level of play, even at its highest, is moderate and does not provide a stimulating challenge to an experienced player.\r\n\r\nIt is interesting to note that M Male, the author, also wrote the excellent air traffic control simulation, Heathrow, for Hewson.\r\n\r\nCP is another fanatical taker, but rarely takes the conventional precaution of building houses in its inner table. On the rest of the board its moves are generally conservative but its defeats of Hewson, as indeed when Hewson beat it, depended on some very lucky dice throws towards the end of the game. The two programs are well matched, their skill levels being about the same and their strategies very similar.\r\n\r\nPsion plays a much more sensible game and provides more of a challenge. It makes better and more frequent use of the standard openings and its strategy throughout the game is more consistent. It protects its inner table and leaves few unnecessary blots but once again when playing a back game it tends to lack conviction and runs for home too soon.\r\n\r\nTo test the abilities of the games a 'tournament' was arranged. Each program played five games against each of the others. The results, shown in the table, were surprisingly even.\r\n\r\nIt was expected, on the basis of playing the game individually, that the result to be would Psion first, Hewson and then CP. None of those programs, however, can assess the play of its opponent, which is why they fail to take advantage of each other's faults. Human players would assess and eventually predict their opponent's moves, frustrating a back game by refusing to hit blots, or avoiding blots left as obvious traps.\r\n\r\nSince the programs cannot do that, the Psion game, for example, fails to realise that its opponents play consistently badly, and cannot capitalise on that as a human player does. For the same reasons, Hewson and CP opposed each other three times with identical strategies and neither was able to realise that and alter its play accordingly. The results therefore depended often merely on the luck of the dice.\r\n\r\nThe Psion game is programmed entirely in machine code and so uses the comparatively small space available on a 16K machine efficiently, even using the spare space in the printer buffer for the table of the positions of the men on the boards. When the Microdrive becomes available it may be a problem to fit it in. On the other hand Hewson and CP are written, predominantly in Basic, Hewson about 70 percent and CP nearly 90 percent; that makes them somewhat cumbersome and would, particularly in the case of CP, welcome the use of a good compiler.\r\n\r\nRESULTS\r\n\r\nPsion vs Hewson\r\n12345\r\nWBW Psion\r\nG W Hewson\r\nPsion wins 5/3\r\n\r\nHewson vs CP\r\n12345\r\nW Psion\r\nG GWW Hewson\r\nCP wins 8/1\r\n\r\nCP v Psion\r\n12345\r\nG G CP\r\nWWG Psion\r\nDraw\r\n\r\nW= Win, G = Gammon, B = Backgammon","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"26,27","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Lambert","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"John Lambert","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"'Results depended often merely on the luck of the dice.'"},{"Text":"RESULTS\r\n\r\nW = Win, G = Gammon, B = Backgammon\r\n\r\nPsion v Hewson\r\nGame 1: G (Hewson)\r\nGame 2: W (Psion)\r\nGame 3: B (Psion)\r\nGame 4: W (Psion)\r\nGame 5: W (Hewson)\r\nPsion wins 5/3\r\n\r\nHewson v CP\r\nGame 1: G (CP)\r\nGame 2: W (Hewson)\r\nGame 3: G (CP)\r\nGame 4: W (CP)\r\nGame 5: W (CP)\r\nCP wins 8/1\r\n\r\nCP v Psion\r\nGame 1: G (CP)\r\nGame 2: W (Psion)\r\nGame 3: W (Psion)\r\nGame 4: G (Psion)\r\nGame 5: G (CP)\r\nDraw"},{"Text":"'The CP graphics are much better than those of Hewson, though the board is drawn very slowly, that part being in Basic. The definition is good, making the men easily visible.'"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 2, Mar 1983","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1983-03-25","Editor":"Cyndy Miles","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"CHARACTER SET\r\n\r\nEditorial\r\nEditor: Cyndy Miles\r\nProduction Editor: Keith Parish\r\nSub-Editor: Peter Worlock\r\nNews Editor: Margaret Coffey\r\nNews Writers: David Guest, Wendy Pearson\r\nSoftware Editor: Shirley Fawcett\r\nSystems Editor: Max Phillips\r\nHardware Editor: Richard King\r\nPeripherals Editor: Ian Scales\r\nFeature and Micropaedia Editor: Geof Wheelwright\r\nListings Editor: Sandra Grandison\r\nEditor's Assistant: Harriet Arnold\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: Jimmy Egerton\r\nArt Assistant: Dolores Fairman\r\nPublishing Manager: Fiona Collier\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Nic Jones\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Sue Hunter\r\nSales Executives: Robert Stallibrass, Matthew Parrot, Bettina Williams, Simon Treasure, Ian Whorley, Sarah Barron\r\nProduction Manager: Brian Humphrey\r\nMicroshop Production: Eva Wroblewska\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Jenny Dunne\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Simon Maggs\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by\r\nVNU Business Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nTypeset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]"},"MainText":"BACKGAMMON BLUES\r\n\r\n'Lucky' Geof Wheelwright loses his reputation on the gaming board to a brace of programs.\r\n\r\nBackgammon is a far cry from the usual run of zap and splat games for the Sinclair Spectrum.\r\n\r\nBut now two versions of the age-old Lebanese game are available on cassette. The first, from CP Software, has been out for some time and the second, from Psion Software, is due to be released in two weeks. I compared the CP game with an exclusive pre-release copy of Psion's implementation.\r\n\r\nThe CP game is a fairly straightforward, no-frills presentation, but Psion's features three-dimensional dice, friendly chat, and strategically placed bells and whistles.\r\n\r\nPSION'S GAME\r\n\r\nIt started ominously; I knew I was in trouble when the game took five minutes to LOAD. Then I was asked which level of play I wanted - there are four - and whether I wanted to roll my own dice.\r\n\r\nBeing a bit of a coward I chose level one, the easiest, and trusted the computer with the dice. I plugged on in the hope that I could thrash the Psion program at its own game.\r\n\r\nI hoped in vain - every time I made a play to take one of the program's stones it would quickly protect them. Even when I offered a stone in sacrifice, in order to get the Psion game to leave one of its stones unprotected, it wasn't interested.\r\n\r\nBy playing this conservative game, the Psion program was soon bearing off, while I struggled to get the last of my men off the bar and into my inner table. I was practically gammoned, and the Psion program won easily.\r\n\r\nI was glad I hadn't put any money on the game.\r\n\r\nI went on to greater things, losing spectacularly to level three. I'd accepted the doubling of stakes, secure in the knowledge that the Spectrum has no pocket-searching peripheral.\r\n\r\nMy excuse is that I was dazzled by the Psion program's graphics and was therefore incapable of thinking straight. The game starts by drawing a nice black and white backgammon board with blue and red stones, then the dice come rolling out in simulated 3-D.\r\n\r\nCP'S VERSION\r\n\r\nI had no such excuse for losing to the CP Software program. CP backgammon is more of a rough and tumble affair, playing aggressively and expecting you to put up a fight.\r\n\r\nI did manage to capture some of the game's stones - but it managed to take twice as many of mine.\r\n\r\nThere were no nice graphics to distract ,me this time. The screen display is utilitarian, employing a red and yellow board with black and white stones. The dice don't move, and are 'thrown' by means of the spots changing when you hit Enter.\r\n\r\nThe animation that moves your stones is also inferior on CP's implementation. Unlike the Psion game, where you actually see the stones moving from place to place on screen, the CP version just flashes the piece that's about to move. It then magically teleports it to its new position where it reappears about four seconds later (a full second slower than the Psion game).\r\n\r\nOne redeeming quality of CP's otherwise lacklustre program is its on-screen documentation of moves. Every time you make a move a code representation is shown on screen (eg it shows f-4 when you move the stone at position f four points closer to your inner table).\r\n\r\nCP also scores a few brownie points for on-screen documentation before the game, and there are several paragraphs explaining the workings of backgammon before the dice are thrown. It's a shame that thoroughness of documentation did not carry over to the information on the cassette sleeve.\r\n\r\nThe paper documentation amounts to a brief summary of how to LOAD a program, and then a precis of the International Backgammon Association's rules for the game. There are more instructions on the back of the cassette sleeve, but again they concentrate on how to play backgammon rather than on how to unlock the secrets of CP's version.\r\n\r\nOnly about one-third of the Psion documentation discusses how to play backgammon - the rest highlights all the bells and whistles that make its game unique.\r\n\r\nVERDICT\r\n\r\nPsion's game also gives new meaning to the phrase 'user-friendly'. It offers you hints on what moves to make if you get stuck, although I have a suspicion the machine is cheating.\r\n\r\nIf you want a game that puts up a good fight, and caters more for the backgammon novice than the aspiring champion, CP's version might be the one.\r\n\r\nBut if you want a backgammon program that takes you from an easy level to a very difficult one, all the while offering hints and invitations to gamble, you should opt for the Psion game.\r\n\r\nThis does seem to come closer to the spirit of most backgammon games I've seen played.\r\n\r\nBoth games cost £5.95, so your choice depends on your playing philosophy.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Welcome to the PCN inner table, where we test two competing Backgammon games for the Spectrum.\n\nThe Psion game's response time seems quicker than it actually is, because the stones move across the screen - but it was still a full second faster than the CP's teleport-style moves.\n\nMoving stones and tumbling dice also give Psion a higher rating for graphics - it doesn't alter the game, but I was getting more for my money.\n\nPsion's Challenge rating is also higher, because of the conservative game it plays. And if a novice like me can take stones from the CP game without too much trouble, then a more advanced player should be able to beat it. CP also scored low because it has only one level of play, while Psion has four. The fifth test was purely subjective, but I felt that the CP dice were less random than Psion's - somehow. CP always seemed to get the moves it needed to steal my stones - who me, paranoid?\n\nI've covered documentation in the text , but it's worth saying that CP could have given more information about what's special about their program.","Page":"31","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Geof Wheelwight","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Response Time","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"On-Screen Graphics","Score":"3/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Challenge","Score":"3/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Variation","Score":"1/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Dice Randomness","Score":"3/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Documentation","Score":"3/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]