[{"TitleName":"The Helm","Publisher":"Firebird Software Ltd","Author":"Simon Jay","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0006423","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 18, Jul 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-06-27","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Reviewer: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone, John Minson\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £14.50 post included (UK Mainland); Europe: 12 issues £21.50 post included. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nMICRONET:\r\nYou can talk to CRASH via Micronet. Our MBX is 105845851\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"THE HELM\r\n\r\nProducer: Firebird\r\nRetail Price: £2.50\r\nLanguage: Quill\r\nAuthor: Simon Jay\r\n\r\nThe Helm, a text-only Quilled adventure, is another Firebird game on offer at a budget price. The game's chief characteristic is a curiously verbose approach to the business of communicating with the player. These witty distractions dominate and dictate the character of the game and it is to the extent that you can stomach such incessant loquacity which will decide your opinions on this game. It is a little unfortunate the game combines such a windy style with a redefined character set which is so difficult to read along with curious colour combinations (like the dreaded red on black) as this slows the proceedings to a snail's pace.\r\n\r\nWhatever the criticism that can be levelled at the long-windedness of the dialogue it must be said this game has a distinctive flavour and it would be wrong to assume everyone will find it too much to take. As in all comedy, some lines are really funny while others leave you non-plussed. To give you some idea of what you can expect here is a fair representation of some of the lines you will meet.\r\n\r\n'Upon further opticular contemplation of the immediate surrounding environment I find the following',\r\n\r\nWhat would you have me do next your Brillianceness?'.\r\n\r\n'Thy wish is my command your most eminent eminence. The task has been completely completed Sire'.\r\n\r\n'Give me your next wondrous command oh all intelligent one'.\r\n\r\nOn cutting a rope loose you are greeted with, 'It drops to the floor with the distinctive sound that only a rope hitting the ground can make. Hit me with another gem!'. When attempting something foolish, like picking up an object you already have you meet, 'Far be it for me, a mere servant to criticise such an omnipotent one as you, but I've got that!' or, 'Although your last command was intellectually superior, I was unable to comply with it'.\r\n\r\nYou see what I mean it either drives you potty or you secretly find it rather amusing.\r\n\r\nIt's not just the replies which get this treatment, how about this location description? 'I am standing on a vast mountain plateau with barely anything in sight worth mentioning except an old cigar butt (probably from the same not-so-litter conscious native as found elsewhere), and one tree (probably not the same one as mentioned in the Covenant Chronicles)'.\r\n\r\nA lesser, but no less unusual feature of this game, is the sound, where typing a letter creates a noise not unlike that emanating when a pacman gobbles a pep-pill while ENTER finishes it off with one reminiscent of a pacman catching and munching a fleeing ghost. All part of the humour.\r\n\r\nThere is a bit of the cheap game syndrome about this one which was not so apparent in Sub Sunk which keeps itself to the very precise task of escaping from a sunk sub. The Helm has a small sleepy village adjacent to a barren desert and all the environs occupy just the one location. The overall impression is of an old fashioned game, the sort that was once play3d in order to gain experience of adventuring with the sure knowledge that better was soon to follow.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nDifficulty: quite difficult\r\nGraphics: none\r\nInput facility: verb/noun\r\nResponse: instant","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Amusing.","Page":"103","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Derek Brewster","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Vocabulary","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Logic","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Addictive Quality","Score":"5/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall Value","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 41, Aug 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-07-18","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nStaff Writer: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Craig Kennedy\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\n\r\nMAGAZINE SERVICES\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\n\r\nTELEPHONE\r\nAll departments [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Photograph: Sheila Rock for Roland Rat Enterprises Ltd.\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs 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 £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\n91,901 Jun-Dec 1984"},"MainText":"Publisher: Firebird\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nPrice: £2.50\r\n\r\nThe Helm confers immortality on its wearers. The current owner is the local, evil Lich but he does not have all the pieces of the sacred headgear. Without all the bits he cannot become an eternal Lich so it is up to you to find the remaining disguised portions and enter the wicked one's castle. There you can steal the final piece. The Lich will not take kindly to this.\r\n\r\nThe game is text only and composed in medieval script which is occasionally difficult to read. The interpreter's responses are servile and sometimes long-winded - instead of 'What next?' you get 'What would you have me do next, Your Brillianceness?'.\r\n\r\nThe text scrolls up the screen in different colours and has a startling kaleidoscopic effect. Despite that the descriptions and general information are quite full and there is a fine tongue-in-cheek approach to the business of magical adventure.\r\n\r\nThere is a wide range of deduction problems ranging from the traditional crossing of the ravine to defeating a mesmerising Psyak - which manifests itself as a ball of light.\r\n\r\nAs far as I am concerned, Firebird can carry on bringing out programs like these. They both show that text adventures can be fun without having to be self-important in attitude.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"94","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Richard Price","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 45, Jul 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-06-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nStaff Writer: Seamus St. John\r\nDesigners: Brian Cookman, Sylvia Wells\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdventure Writer: Keith Campbell\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nReader Services: Marcus Jeffery\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Bernard Dugdale\r\nAdvertising Executive: Sean Brennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\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: £15. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover: Courtesy of Domark"},"MainText":"MACHINE: Spectrum\r\nSUPPLIER: Firebird\r\nPRICE: £2.50\r\n\r\nHave you the cunning, power and knowledge to crack the dark one's lair and discover the Helm of Immortality?\r\n\r\nFind this fabled object and wrest it from the grasp of Lich and you will win the gift of immortality.\r\n\r\nThe Helm is an adventure text game in which you have to solve puzzles and perform certain tasks to solve this entertaining riddle.\r\n\r\nYou may need a long life - if not immortality - to solve this.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"93","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"THE PRICE IS RIGHT\r\n\r\nBuying computer games can be an expensive business. Some can cost anything up to £14.\r\n\r\nTo buy all the latest titles as they come onto the market would cost a small fortune. And that's beyond the pocket of most people.\r\n\r\nSo it's no wonder that software companies have started producing a range of games costing no more than a couple of pounds.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately, besides being cheap, some were very nasty and a waste of money. It seemed far better to save up and buy a top price game.\r\n\r\nBut such is the potential of the market that the quality of the games has improved while the prices have been kept low.\r\n\r\nSo Computer & Video Games thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at some of the current budget games on the market from software houses.\r\n\r\nFirebird, British Telecom's software company, is now in the process of updating its Silver catalogue which was launched in October 1984 with great success, with all the games selling for £2.50.\r\n\r\nStar of the original 20 titles was undoubtedly Booty on the Spectrum 48k and Commodore 64 which, claims Firebird, has sales now in excess of 100,000. It's now being converted to the Amstrad and should be available by late summer.\r\n\r\nIn Booty, Jim the cabin boy faces death by drowning or at the hands of the Ghost Pirate as he searches through the hold of the Black Galleon in search of treasure.\r\n\r\nAnother favourite is Gogo the Ghost on the Commodore 64 which has, believe it or not, 150 frames of haunted happenings.\r\n\r\nNew games shortly to be introduced into the Silver range are Microcosm for the BBC B, Subsunk for the Commodore 64 and Don't Panic for the 16k and 48k Spectrum.\r\n\r\nMastertronic, formed in April 1984, now claims to be the brand leader in budget games - its extensive range sells for just £1.99 each.\r\n\r\nIn its first 12 months of trading, Mastertronic says it has audited figures of sales for two million games.\r\n\r\nNew developments for 1985 in the £1.99 range include two semi-educational games in its Mistertronic titles - Make Music with Mistertronic and Type Rope - aimed at the six to 11 age range.\r\n\r\nEarlier this year, Atlantis Software launched three games under its new Atlantis Gold label, selling at £2.99 each.\r\n\r\nThey were the Dungeons and Dragons-style Adventure Velnor's Lair for the Commodore 64 and Nicotine Nightmare and Self Destruct, both on the Spectrum 48k.\r\n\r\nThe last two have proved so popular that Atlantis is in the process of converting them for the Amstrad - a move which again points to the growing popularity of the machine.\r\n\r\nMike Cole, of Atlantis, says: \"We believe in the Amstrad as the next thing to come. It's a lovely machine. We will be supporting it.\"\r\n\r\nBeing launched this spring is The Sparkler range of games from Creative Sparks at £2.50.\r\n\r\nSandy Mackenzie, of Creative Sparks, says: \"There is a a need to supply good quality software at prices affordable to kids\".\r\n\r\nThe company's decision to produce cheap software was prompted to a great extent by the large number of excellent games sent in by amateur writers.\r\n\r\n\"By promoting games in the budget range,\" says Sandy, \"we are opening the industry to new talent, and also serving the interest of games buyers by publishing good games at reasonable prices. After all, low prices doesn't have to mean low quality.\"\r\n\r\nSoit seems that pocket-money power is being recognised at last and computer star wars could soon become computer price wars.\r\n\r\nAbout time, too!"}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Sound","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 46, Aug 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-07-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nStaff Writer: Seamus St. John\r\nDesigners: Brian Cookman\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdventure Writer: Keith Campbell\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nReader Services: Marcus Jeffery\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Bernard Dugdale\r\nAdvertising Executive: Sean Brennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\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: £15. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover: Courtesy of Nike"},"MainText":"The Helm is another Spectrum game written using the Quill and is text only. The object is to find and restore the sacred and powerful Helm of Immortality, currently held by the evil Lich. I groaned inwardly as I read about the plot - about as original as a sandwich in a lunch box.\r\n\r\nThe Adventure lived up to my expectations in terms of its plot and problems - nothing special, as they say. Locked chest in first location. Solution - open chest with key I am carrying. Get knife since it's sure to be needed elsewhere. Come across unclimbable rope hanging from tree. Solution - cut rope with knife. To be fair, they do get more difficult, but seem rather mundane.\r\n\r\nWhat does make the game different, though, is the style of text. Instead of saying \"I see...\" followed by a list of objects present, the narrative goes: \"Upon further careful opticular contemplation of the immediate surrounding environment, I find the following\" and then the list. Unusual the first time round, maddening by the tenth.\r\n\r\nBut it doesn't end there! Should you type a command that the program doesn't understand, such as \"Move rubble\" at the blocked mountain pass, you will receive the following message: \"Unfortunately your subhuman linguistical attempts at simple communication are beyond me. Try conversing in the Queen's English.\"\r\n\r\nA message that strong is a dangerous thing to put in any Adventure with a vocabulary any smaller than the standard set by Infocom. Best to play safe, on the basis that the programmer is more likely to have made an error of omission in the vocab., than the player a typing or spelling error.\r\n\r\nOverall, the game performed well, but didn't hold my interest for very long and the attempts at humour wore thin very quickly. What I did like was the squelchy sound every time I pressed a key. Just what I thought a Spectrum keyboard should sound like!\r\n\r\nThe Helm is for 48k Spectrum from Firebird Software.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"105","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Keith Campbell","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Personal Rating","Score":"5/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 20, Aug 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-07-25","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSoftware Assistant: John Gerard Donovan\r\nSales Executive: Alice Robertson\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"THE HELM is another adventure but this time text only. This program found a place in my heart for the lovely tongue in cheek approach which it adopts. Humour is a matter of preference but I found myself playing over and over again to discover what other comments the programmer had included. Nice one Simon Jay, highly recommended!","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"74","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]