[{"TitleName":"Fantasia Diamond","Publisher":"Hewson Consultants Ltd","Author":"Kim W. Topley","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0006286","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 5, Jun 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-05-24","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":126,"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\nTelephone numbers\r\nEditorial/office [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Ltd.\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\nPhotosetting by SIOS [redacted]\r\nColour origination by Scan Studio, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd, [redacted].\r\nDistribution by Comag, [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":"FANTASIA DIAMOND\r\n\r\nProducer: Hewson Consultants\r\nMemory Required: 48K\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nAuthor: K. W. Topley\r\n\r\nFantasia Diamond, a family heirloom and the largest diamond known to man, has been stolen and removed to a fortress across the river. Boris the master spy, who made his way to the fortress to recapture the diamond, has been imprisoned by the faithful guardian who patrols the rooms and corridors for intruders. On your journey you are likely to meet elves, pixies, gnomes and the decidedly unfriendly woodcutter.\r\n\r\nYour mission is to enter the fortress, recover the diamond and rescue Boris. But once you find the diamond the game is not over - you must still get back home, and this can be the most difficult part.\r\n\r\nOn loading you notice a very attractive loading screen, followed by some pleasing graphical representations of the first few frames of the adventure.\r\n\r\nThe screen that confronts you is very reminiscent of that used in The Hobbit. The screen is divided into two areas. The upper area shows the action taking place and the pictures of some of the scenes from the adventure. The lower area is used for your input and error messages.\r\n\r\nThis screen presentation is adequate but it can be difficult to keep your place on the upper scrolling portion as it receives fresh information. Using different colours for the objects, characters, etc. would help but it may have been better to clear the screen as you enter new locations.\r\n\r\nWhen you start the adventure you are weak but you can build up your strength by eating and drinking. You should feed regularly otherwise you may become critically weak. Your strength determines how many objects you can carry and if you become too weak you won't be able to pick up the lightest of objects - including food.\r\n\r\nThe characters that inhabit the adventure lead independent lives with friends more or less sticking by you. During play you become aware of the real time element to the game. Every character takes action every 15 seconds whether or not you yourself do anything. However, if you feel like a breather all action stops when you start to type and doesn't proceed until you ENTER.\r\n\r\nTo make movement in the four main directions easier use has been made of the cursor keys, which is very useful for a quick early foray when the early part of the adventure can be mapped out; NE, SW, etc, can also be entered in the usual way.\r\n\r\nThe vocabulary used in the adventure is a very strong point - it is both large and user-friendly. Intelligent responses are the order of the day - not just the ubiquitous - 'You Can't'. Leaving behind the Verb/Noun restrictions of many adventures, the game allows much more complex inter-actions and requires the adventurer to be specific, eg UNLOCK DOOR WITH KEY. Quite complex sentences can be used with each command starting with a verb, eg OPEN THE DOOR AND GO EAST. The vocabulary is varied enough to allow three keys which must be matched to three doors. Similarly with the three books. Another useful feature is that the computer can remember the last verb you used so you can GET KEY (ENTER) - WINE (ENTER), which saves time.\r\n\r\nThe game uses a powerful LOOK command, eg LOOK AT THE CHEST is distinguishable from LOOK INTO THE CHEST and you can even look across into different scenes with LOOK THROUGH THE WOODEN DOOR or LOOK INTO THE SMALL CAVE. This gives you a chance of avoiding unfriendly characters and so marks an excellent and very useful advance which other aspiring authors would do well to note.\r\n\r\nFurther examples of the breadth of dialect are seen with FOLLOW ROBOT and SAY TO ELF GET KEY. If you needed to be persistent with this last request CAPS SHIFT and 9 will repeat the commands on the last line you entered - a nice touch and a sign of a highly polished piece of software.\r\n\r\nThe abbreviations are very helpful - often the first or first two letters are adequate.\r\n\r\nFantasia Diamond is a long adventure with many interesting and logical problems to solve. Highly recommended.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"74","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Derek Brewster","Score":"10","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Difficulty","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Vocabulary","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Logic","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Debugging","Score":"10/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall Value","Score":"10/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 5, Jul 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-06-21","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nManaging Editor: Bruce Sawford\r\nDeputy Editor: Tina Boylan\r\nTechnical Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Ron Smith, Ian Beardsmore, Christopher Ashford, Henry Budgett, Penny Page, SQ Factor, Toni Baker, Dilwyn Jones, The Chiltern Computer Club, Tomas Green, Simon Goodwin, John Flenley, Phil Manchester\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nArt Assistant: Steve Broadhurst\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jeff Raggett\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shane Campbell\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Nik Saha\r\nTypesetting Manager: Derek Cohen\r\nTypesetters: Beverley Douglas, Maggie Kayley, Velma Miller\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Art Director: Perry Neville\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Spectrum ©1984 Felden productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Spectrum is a monthly publication.\r\n\r\nCover photography by Ian McKinnell"},"MainText":"FANTASIA DIAMOND\r\nHewson Consultants\r\n£7.95\r\n\r\nAn adventure in which you have to retrieve the magnificent Fantasia Diamond, a family heirloom, from the imposing fortress across the river. Now it's up to you.","ReviewerComments":["This one has above average graphical representation, it's fun to play, and the theme is thoroughly exciting. Good use of the Spectrum's capabilities is made even better by a very good idea. One of Hewson's best.\r\nSimon Cox\r\n7/10","Nice use of colour, pleasant but basic graphics and quite fast. Only thing is, it seems to resemble The Hobbit on just a few too many occasions.\r\nIan Simmonds\r\n5/10","The overall effect of well-defined graphics, and a good choice of colour is very pleasing. And you can add to that the speedy checking of commands against the large vocabulary, and rapid picture drawing.\r\nJon Warner\r\n6/10"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"53","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Simon Cox","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Ian Simmonds","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/10"},{"Name":"Jon Warner","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 31, May 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-04-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":172,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"CREDITS\r\n\r\nEditor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nAssistant Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nEditorial Assistant: Clare Edgeley\r\nStaff Writers/Reader Services: Robert Schifreen, Seamus St. John\r\nArt Editor: Linda Freeman\r\nDesigner: Lynda Skerry\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAdvertising Executives: Bernard Dugdale, Sean Brennan\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nProduction Assistant: Roy Stephens\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. By using the special Postal Subscription Service, copies of COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES can be mailed direct from our offices each month to any address throughout the world. All subscription applications should be sent for processing to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES (Subscription Department), [redacted]. All orders should include the appropriate remittance made payable to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES. Annual subscription rates (12 issues): UK and Eire: £14. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd. Printed by Eden Fisher (Southend) Ltd.\r\n\r\nSpiderman TM and The Hulk TM copyright ©1984 by Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation.\r\n\r\nCover Illustration and Lettering: Jerry Paris"},"MainText":"Quest Adventure fans will be delighted to learn that Hewson have launched Kim Topley's second game - Fantasia Diamond.\r\n\r\nHewson told me that this game is as good as anything on the market so I thought I'd better take a look just to see whether it was true or not.\r\n\r\nThe family heirloom from which the game takes it name has been stolen and taken to the fortress across the river. It's your job to get it back and also to rescue Boris the Masterspy imprisoned on a previous bid to regain the diamond.\r\n\r\nThe game features a split screen graphics and text system. The pretty pictures are certainly - but as good as the Hobbit? I'm sorry, Hewson, not by half.\r\n\r\nI liked Fantasia Diamond - it struck just the right level of difficulty for me. It is tough - but not so tough that I got the impression I would never solve it in a month of Sundays which was very encouraging.\r\n\r\nA well thought out and well executed adventure - in the shops now at £7.95.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"125","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Keith Campbell","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer Games Issue 7, Jun 1984","Price":"£0.75","ReleaseDate":"1984-05-17","Editor":"Chris Anderson","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Chris Anderson\r\nProduction Editor: Roderick George\r\nArt Editor: Ian Findlay\r\nTechnical Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nStaff Writers: Steve Cooke, Peter Connor\r\nEditorial Assistant: Samantha Hemens\r\nSoftware Consultant: Tony Takoushi\r\nCartoons: Kipper Williams\r\nProgram Control Guardians: Jeff Riddle\r\nScreenshots: Chris Bell\r\nCover Illustration: Pat Weedon\r\nGroup Editor: Cyndy Miles\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nGroup Publisher: John Cade\r\nPublisher: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nPublishing Secretary: Jenny Dunne\r\nAdvertising Manager: Herbert Wright\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Jan Martin\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Mike Caroll\r\nAdvertisement Production: Simon Carter\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Coraline Turner\r\nSales Executives: Joey Davies, Marion O'Neill\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]. Typesetting by Spectrum Typesetting, [redacted] Origination by Fourmost Colour [redacted]. Printed and bound by Chase Web Offset [redacted]. © VNU Business Publications 1984."},"MainText":"ADVENTURES IN COLOUR\r\n\r\nWhat price graphics? Don't kid yourself. One way or the another you'll have to pay for them. First, graphics can take up a lot of memory. Fans of text-only games argue that the space is better used for a larger vocabulary or better location descriptions. What's more, they point out, the pictures take a long time to draw and conflict with the image in the players imagination.\r\n\r\nDo the text-only supporters have a point? Or should they stick to reading books and playing Scrabble?\r\n\r\nRecent adventures, it seems, have overcome most of their objections. As far as memory is concerned, you might like to know that Bug-Byte's very successful Twin Kingdom Valley has over 175 locations, each with its own picture, but, incredibly, the graphics take up only 8K.\r\n\r\n'It's a very crafty coding system,' says Trevor Hall, programmer of TKV, obviously unwilling to give away any secrets. What's more, the graphics draw in under 10 seconds and some even boast the occasional animated sprite.\r\n\r\nOther software companies, however, seem to be going in quite a different direction. Interceptor Software recently brought out Heroes of Karn for the Commodore 64, a game with only 65 locations that takes up all the available memory, a large part of which is dedicated to graphics.\r\n\r\nOne look at them will tell you why. The detail of the display is fabulous and some of the locations have excellent music as well. The graphics are very slow to draw, but - although the Text-Only Supporters Club will no doubt disagree - I think they're worth waiting for and add substantially to the atmosphere of the game.\r\n\r\nHeroes of Karn was reviewed in the March issue of PCG, so all I'll say here is that it's a great adventure and well worth adding to your collection.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile most of the more recent adventures on the market are offering graphics, while some of the older, text-only games are being re-released with graphics added.\r\n\r\nInto this last category falls Adventure International, distributor of the Scott Adams adventures. These games have been around for quite a while now, but they've come a long way since Scott first hammered them out on his 16K Tandy.\r\n\r\nFour of the titles, already available in text-only form on the BBC, are about to be released with graphics for the Spectrum and Commodore 64. If you haven't tried the Scott Adams series then they're well worth sampling. Pirate Adventure is one of the simplest, but try Adventureland if you enjoy a challenge.\r\n\r\nScott's commitment to graphic adventures is most clearly shown by his latest offerings, based on heroes from the Marvel Comics. The Incredible Hulk has just come out for the Atari, Spectrum, BBC and Commodore 64.\r\n\r\nCatching a quick glimpse of some pre-release versions a few weeks ago, I can assure you that the graphics are excellently done, and the games have some amusing and original touches. Design was carried out in collaboration with Marvel artists so authenticity is guaranteed. I'll be looking at these games in more detail in the next issue.\r\n\r\nBBC owners have been known to turn a little green at the sight of graphic adventures. That's because they're usually running on someone else's machine. Sadly the BBC doesn't quite have the space inside for all those pretty pictures, as anyone who's tried playing The Hobbit on the Acorn machine will know to their cost.\r\n\r\nGood news, then, for BBC owners. Micrograf have just released two games for the Beeb that make unusual use of graphics. Flint's Gold and Vampire Castle are predominantly text-only, but each program has occasional graphic interludes. It's a bit like reading a book with an illustration in each chapter. Because of excellent use of sound effects, varied responses, and a great sense of humour, Micrografs games score very high on atmosphere.\r\n\r\nAs you walk along the sea-front in Flint's Gold you hear the waves breaking on the shore and even the sound of gulls calling out overhead. Vampire Castle brings you face to face with Count Dracula, Igor, and a number of tricky puzzles.\r\n\r\nNeither of these games is a full-blown graphic adventure by any means, but the occasional 'illustration' and the sound effects add a lot of fun.\r\n\r\nBeeb owners who insist on graphics at all cost might be tempted by The Stolen Lamp from Lothlorien. The display is colourful and draws very fast, but the game itself is repetitive and lacking in challenge. If you fancy flying round deserts and blowing up pickpockets in a search for Aladdin's Lamp then you might be able to put up with the extremely limited vocabulary and sparse locations. My own inclination would be to avoid it except in cases of dire software starvation.\r\n\r\nAdventure in a very different style for Beeb owners is offered by Pettigrew's Diary from Shards Software. This is billed as a three-part adventure, and the First 'chapter' certainly isn't short on graphics. Unfortunately it's very short on text, and there are only two locations. Yes, you guessed, it's really an arcade game.\r\n\r\nThe idea behind Pettigrew's Diary is to get through the first part collecting various objects and the password to the next 'chapter'. Unfortunately the action is so agonisingly slow that it was all could do to keep playing. I spent no less than five hours struggling with the game, in which you guide a little man round a burning farmhouse looking for various objects and avoiding the ever-spreading flames.\r\n\r\nOnce you've completed the first chapter you move on to the second, which is a more traditional text-adventure with standard two-word inputs. The third 'chapter' involves you undertaking eight separate challenges in order to solve the secret of Pettigrew's Diary.\r\n\r\nWhether the later stages of Pettigrew's Diary are worth all the effort at the beginning is a mystery to me since I never got beyond the first stage. For this reason I haven't included a rating of the game, but if any reader wants to write in and give us all the low-down on what happens then please do.\r\n\r\nIf you fancy arcade/adventure combinations and you have a Commodore 64 then you should try Sorcerer's Apprentice from Phoenix Software. Here you must first battle it out against mad mops and brushes in order to discover a password that will enable you to play the adventure that follows.\r\n\r\nThe adventure, however, is text-only. You wander about the Wizard's Castle experimenting with spells and, if you're not careful, find yourself turned into a toad or poisoned by biscuits. Once you get tired of this, Sorcerer's Apprentice doesn't have a lot more to offer. The only really good thing about the game is the error-checking, which is just as well as the vocabulary is very small.\r\n\r\nGraphics adventures for the Oric are few and far between. To make up for this, some of them seem to make extravagant claims for themselves which they then fail to live up to.\r\n\r\nIsland of Death from Ocean has you wandering round a desert island using single letter commands. Each time you encounter an obstacle the program launches into a graphic interlude that takes the form of a simple arcade-type challenge.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are very basic and none of the challenges really tests the player. Despite some humourous moments this game is definitely not the 'ultimate Arcade/Adventure' it claims to he.\r\n\r\nHell's Temple from Kenema is a straightforward 3D maze game with D&D elements. You can listen outside doors, battle with monsters, and collect treasure. Like Island of Death it uses single-letter inputs and claims to be 'one of the most advanced Adventure programs for the Oric 1'. It isn't.\r\n\r\nDon't be discouraged, Oric owners. As soon as the confusion caused by the Oric/Atmos transition has died down I'll be looking at adventures for your machines in more detail.\r\n\r\nFinally, a quick look at a couple of -new releases for the Spectrum. Hewson Consultants' Fantasia Diamond is a graphic adventure with many similarities to The Hobbit, though it isn't so complex.\r\n\r\nThe display will be familiar to Hobbit fans, with the picture in the top half of the screen and input/responses in the bottom half. The graphics aren't quite as good as the Melbourne House program and they're rather slow on the draw.\r\n\r\nThe best thing about this game is the other characters in the story, each of whom will help or hinder you in a particular way as you search for the stolen Fantasia Diamond. You can speak to them (using the 'say to' format) and even get them to do things for you, provided they're willing to.\r\n\r\nThe error-checking is good, and the vocabulary comprehensive. You'll have to persevere with some of the puzzles - even when you know the answer the program is very fussy about how you phrase it.\r\n\r\nVirgin's Atlas Assignment is for the most part text-only, but includes three arcade sequences. If that isn't enough for you (and I warn you that it won't be) then you'll be pleased to know that the adventure itself isn't at all bad.\r\n\r\nSome of the puzzles are very tricky to solve, and my only objection to the game was that it encouraged a rather homicidal approach to other people. Shoot them on sight, in other words. That said, Atlas Assignment has some novel ideas and looks like being one of Virgin's better games.\r\n\r\nGame: Hell's Temple\r\nMachine: Oric 48K\r\nPrice: £12.00\r\nComplexity: 3/10\r\nAtmosphere: 3/10\r\nInterest: 2/10\r\nValue: 3/10\r\n\r\nGame: Island Of Death\r\nMachine: Oric 48K\r\nPrice: £6.90\r\nComplexity: 2/10\r\nAtmosphere: 4/10\r\nInterest: 1/10\r\nValue: 2/10\r\n\r\nGame: Heroes Of Karn\r\nMachine: Commodore 64\r\nPrice: £7.00\r\nComplexity: 7/10\r\nAtmosphere: 8/10\r\nInterest: 6/10\r\nValue: 7/10\r\n\r\nGame: Stolen Lamp\r\nMachine: VVC\r\nPrice: £6.95\r\nComplexity: 4/10\r\nAtmosphere: 4/10\r\nInterest: 3/10\r\nValue: 3/10\r\n\r\nGame: Sorcerer's Apprentice\r\nMachine: Commodore 64\r\nPrice: £9.99\r\nComplexity: 4/10\r\nAtmosphere: 5/10\r\nInterest: 4/10\r\nValue: 4/10\r\n\r\nGame: Twin Kingdom Valley\r\nMachine: Commodore 64, Electron, BBC\r\nPrice: £9.50\r\nComplexity: 8/10\r\nAtmosphere: 8/10\r\nInterest: 6/10\r\nValue: 7/10\r\n\r\nGame: Flint's Gold\r\nMachine: BBC\r\nPrice: £6.95 Cass, £9.95 Disk\r\nComplexity: 6/10\r\nAtmosphere: 8/10\r\nInterest: 4/10\r\nValue: 7/10\r\n\r\nGame: Vampire Castle\r\nMachine: BBC\r\nPrice: ££6.95 Cass, £6.95 Disk\r\nComplexity: 6/10\r\nAtmosphere: 8/10\r\nInterest: 4/10\r\nValue: 7/10\r\n\r\nGame: Atlas Assignment\r\nMachine: Spectrum 48K\r\nPrice: £5.95\r\nComplexity: 7/10\r\nAtmosphere: 7/10\r\nInterest: 5/10\r\nValue: 6/10\r\n\r\nGame: Fantasia Diamond\r\nMachine: Spectrum 48K\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nComplexity: 6/10\r\nAtmosphere: 6/10\r\nInterest: 7/10\r\nValue: 6/10","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"106,107,108","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Steve Cooke","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Complexity","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Interest","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 76, Sep 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-24","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":50,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nSub-Editors: Harriet Arnold, Leah Batham\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nNews Writer/Sub Editor: Sandra Grandison\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Ken Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nPrograms Editor: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Alexander\r\nLayout Artists: Tim Brown, Paul Clarkson\r\nPublisher: Cyndy Miles\r\nPublishing Assistant: Tobe Bendeth\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Bettina Williams\r\nAssistant Advertisement Managers: Sarah Barron, Phil Pratt\r\nSenior Sales Executives: Laura Cade, Claire Rowbottom\r\nSales Executives: Claire Barnes, Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Paul Evans, Tony Keefe, Christian McCarthy, Amanda Moore, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Noel O'Sullivan\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Gill Stevens\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper"},"MainText":"ADVENTURES CAPITAL\r\n\r\nBob Chappell surveys the scene to evaluate the influence of  new crop of innovative adventures.\r\n\r\nMelbourne House's The Hobbit and Legend's Valhalla were both important watersheds in the development of the adventure, but how much has the adventure moved on since their launch?\r\n\r\nLike them or not, these two games set new standards in two fields, most obviously in graphics, but also in popularising semi-intelligent characters (in addition to the one usually found sitting at the keyboard).\r\n\r\nSo, post Hobbit and Valhalla, you might have expected the floodgates to open for a new breed of adventures. A look at a representative sample of some of the latest releases should give us an indication of the state of this particular art.\r\n\r\nFANTASIA DIAMOND\r\nSpectrum\r\n£8.95\r\nHewson Consultants, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis one is Hewson's follow-up to Quest. The plot is hardly original, being littered with stolen treasure, elves, castles and the like, but there's no doubt that Fantasia Diamond is one of the most sophisticated of the current wave.\r\n\r\nIt shows clear signs of the influence the Hobbit has had on the genre. The command analyser is powerful, allowing the player to enter compound commands such as 'OPEN THE DOOR AND GO EAST', 'GET THE FOOD AND THE WINE' or 'LOOK THROUGH THE WOODEN DOOR'. You can also communicate with the various characters in the adventure with the syntax 'SAY TO THE GNOME \"GET THE ROD\"'. The characters themselves lead separate lives, and will go about their business as you go about yours.\r\n\r\nMany of the locations also include simple graphics, and if you know the Hobbit, they will seem fairly familiar. Hewson has obviously taken the lessons of the Hobbit to heart by combining a powerful command parser, character communication, independent characters, graphics and a large scale mission. The end result is a fantasy adventure that is both sophisticated and stimulating, and offers a great challenge.\r\n\r\nWAXWORKS\r\nCommodore 64 and others\r\n£9.95\r\nChannel 8, [redacted]\r\n\r\nFresh from the fertile mind of Brian Howarth comes yet another in the popular Mysterious Adventure series. Originally these adventures were text only, but they've been updated, in keeping with the trend towards graphically depicted locations.\r\n\r\nOne excellent feature of this particular series - apart from the fact that it is available for a wide range of micros - is that you can switch the graphics on or off at any time during the adventure.\r\n\r\nWaxworks follows a theme beloved of devotees of spook stories. You've been visiting a waxworks museum and you've fallen asleep - in this respect it's a bit like visiting the House of Lords - and you wake up to find you've been locked in for the night.\r\n\r\nThe adventure breaks no new ground in terms of technical development - apart from the graphics it's a traditional verb/ noun command driven game - but, nevertheless, like its predecessors it's a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining adventure.\r\n\r\nGENESIS II\r\nSpectrum\r\n£6.95\r\nMikro-Gen, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSince the days of Noah, 'ark' has generally been what passes for intelligent conversation among ravens. But no more: MikroGen's Genesis II is the biblical tale of survival on board a galactic Noah's ark.\r\n\r\nIt has a good analyser, instant response and graphics, and a vocabulary of some 300 words. There are over 100 locations to explore, and 60 objects to play around with - more than enough to satisfy the most inquisitive and acquisitive of explorers.\r\n\r\nWhat next, one asks? Exodus II, where the children of Israel pass through a black hole into the promised galaxy? The sky quite clearly isn't the limit ...\r\n\r\nTHE INFERNO\r\nSpectrum\r\n£6.50\r\nRIchard Shepherd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nMoving right along, we fall like Lucifer into - with apologies to Richard Shepherd Software - the pits. This latest from the Shepherd stable also exhibits signs of progress. It has a command analyser which allows the entry of compound commands, communication and interaction with the characters, and has graphics which can be switched on or off.\r\n\r\nThe plot is unusual, being modeled around a plan of Dante's vision of Hell, with the adventurer having to pass through nine circles of Hell to reach the centre and escape. The theme is unusual, and overall it's an attractively presented adventure.\r\n\r\nSPOOF\r\nSpectrum\r\n£6.95\r\nRunesoft, [redacted]\r\n\r\nProgram generators are just starting to have an effect on the market, and Gilsoft's Quill is certainly the most popular of them. Since its appearance the Quill has been used to produce a goodly number of commercial adventures for the Spectrum. With its release on the Commodore 64, we can expect to see a similar outpouring of adventures for that machine.\r\n\r\nSpoof is a Quill-generated adventure, but what makes it worth special attention is its humour. There are already of a number of humorous adventures to be had, the most notable being Supersoft's Streets of London (Commodore 64), Salamander's similar Cricklewood incident (Dragon) and Infocom's superb Planetfall (various micros).\r\n\r\nBut Spoof stands out from these because it is a parody of the standard adventure. In it you will come across such exotic locations as the Obligatory Mountains, the Secret Mysterious Hidden Cavern (clearly signposted) and the Necessary Forest. You will also encounter a three-headed vulture who wants a bit more than the usual food to let you pass. If you happen to have on you a bottle of wart remover, the dress of a princess, a magic rope and the ring from a pig's nose, you're in business.\r\n\r\nAFRICA GARDENS\r\nSpectrum\r\nGilsoft, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis is one of Gilsoft's own Quill-produced adventures, marketed under the title of The Gold Collection. It's a particularly good example of the series, and is set in a mysterious hotel. It's reasonably detailed and its atmospheric text descriptions ensure the player's imagination is caught.\r\n\r\nMINDBENDER\r\nAfrica Gardens, Mindbender\r\nSpectrum\r\n£5.95\r\nGilsoft, [redacted]\r\n\r\nThe Gold Collection's contribution to mind-bending is named, aptly enough, Mindbender. It's crammed with testing puzzles and action, and starts as it means to go on by forcing you to stretch your imagination if you want to progress beyond the first couple of locations. A good sense of humour in the text helps keep you from biting the carpet when you're stuck - great stuff.\r\n\r\nWHAT'S NEXT?\r\n\r\nCertainly adventures have improved in the long term, but as yet it doesn't seem that there have been any material developments since the Hobbit and Valhalla. The standard of these two is, however, being matched regularly.\r\n\r\nAnd as if Movisoft (the graphics system used by Valhalla) wasn't enough, Legend is currently working on Movisoft 2 for the follow-up, to be called The Great Space Race, and due for release later in the year. The next great leap forward? We'll see...","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"18,19","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bob Chappell","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]