[{"TitleName":"The Realm","Publisher":"Cult Games","Author":"Ian Williams","YearOfRelease":"Unknown","ZxDbId":"0006871","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 55, Aug 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-07-28","Editor":"Dominic Handy","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Dominic Handy\r\nAssistant Editor: Katharina Hamza\r\nProduction Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Mark Caswell, Philip King, Lloyd Mangram, Nick Roberts\r\nEditorial Assistants: Frances Mable, Glenys Powell\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Raffaele Cecco, Paul Evans, Simon N Goodwin, Ian Philipson, Philippa Irving, Brendon Kavanagh, Paul Sumner, Stuart Wynne\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nArt Director: Mark Kendrick\r\nAssistant Art Director: Wayne Allen\r\nProduction Team: Ian Chubb, Melvin Fisher, Robert Millichamp, Yvonne Priest, Matthew Uffindell\r\n\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nSales Executives: Andrew Smales, Sarah Chapman\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of CRASH. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop Frances Mable a line at the [redacted] address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for either Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions. No material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\nTotal: 96,590\r\nUK/EIRE: 90,822\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"THE REALM\r\n\r\nCult\r\n£1.99\r\n\r\nThere's bound to be something nasty hiding in the forest north of Thryll Town. As a seasoned adventurer ? Meet Mrs Mop it's hardly the sort of thing to put you off, but as you enter the cool and leafy environment, your heart pounds nevertheless. Who knows what may be in store?\r\n\r\nThe ensuing journey winds from wizard's cottage through thickets and scrub, long grass and pine trees, a stone circle and a series of caves to the centre of the forest realm. Locations are accompanied intermittently by forgettable monochrome illustrations which take a while to re-draw. With a couple of exceptions they don't really enhance the sparse and minimalist location text.\r\n\r\nA functional scenario hides a comparatively ordinary set of puzzles. Once you've found the mysterious spellbook in the wizard's kitchen, most of the rest of the adventure consists of collecting the correct ingredients (frogs, snakes, furry fwoobles, mouldy carrots etc) in order to cast spells to gather more ingredients. Characters ranging from an extremely thirsty nomad, to a hungry but musical little girl, will provide you with the appropriate object only if you help them first. What follows is a frantic round of search and exchange which soon begins to lose its appeal. As each individual defines exactly what he needs by name, you don't even get the chance to work out what exactly it is he wants.\r\n\r\nAn element of danger adds a little spice to what would otherwise become an even more mundane and monotonous trek. Collect the ingredients in the wrong order or get caught in some of the forest's natural hazards, and your quest comes to a sudden and sometimes sticky end. The procedure becomes something of a logic problem as you try to work out which of the nastier (troll, giant spider etc) you have the power to tackle first. Get it wrong and your adventure in the sinister forest realm is doomed.\r\n\r\nEven for a budget game, the parser is extremely limited. It accepts approximately 16 verbs and no complex commands. There is a SAVE option, though no RAMSAVE and you can turn the pictures off for faster play. As the puzzles are so basic, the lack of flexibility doesn't matter that much. Simple commands solve simple problems.\r\n\r\nThe Realm might work as an introduction to adventuring for a very green beginner. The more experienced won't find it much of a challenge. Exploring and swapping objects is quite entertaining at first and there are one or two interesting features, but on the whole it's unlikely that any initial appeal will last. Considering the quality of some of the home-grown adventures on offer at the moment, you'd probably be happier spending your money on those.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"58","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Kati Hamza","Score":"49","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Knock on the door and see what's inside."},{"Text":"Meet Mrs Mop."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"49%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Sinclair Issue 34, Oct 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-09-13","Editor":"Teresa Maughan","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Teresa Maughan\r\nDeputy Editor: Ciaran Brennan\r\nArt Editor: Darrell King\r\nStaff Writer: Duncan MacDonald\r\nProduction Editor: Jackie Ryan\r\nDesigner: Catherine Higgs\r\nContributors: Guy Bennington, Marcus Berkmann, Richard Blaine, Jonathan Davies, Mike Gerrard, Graeme Kidd, Rachael Smith, Phil South\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Salmon\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Simon Stansfield\r\nAdvertisement Director: Alistair Ramsay\r\nProduction Manager: Judith Middleton\r\nAdvertisement Production: Claire Leggitt\r\nMarketing Manager: Bryan Denyer\r\nPublisher: Kevin Cox\r\nPublishing Director: Roger Munford\r\nFinance Director: Colin Crawford\r\nManaging Director: Stephen England\r\nChairman: Felix Dennis\r\n\r\nPublished by Dennis Publishing Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England.\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Sinclair ©1988 Felden Productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Sinclair is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"FAX BOX\r\nTitle: The Realm\r\nPublisher: The Cult, D&H Games, [redacted]\r\nPrice: £1.99\r\nReviewer: Mike Gerrard\r\n\r\nThis adventure came in, like dozens of others, with a covering letter from the author hoping I'd give it a review. Unlike most, The Realm is getting one. Why? Because of its originality, sense of humour and good old-fashioned fun.\r\n\r\nThe Realm is the land that you have to explore, and initially you know nothing more than that. At the start you're asked if you're male or female, and it's worth playing both versions as the problems and text are juggled around a little to adapt. In a cottage near the start you meet a wizard who asks you to wait there while he goes off in search of a goblin who's pinched a page from his spell book. In the cottage is a cage, and if you open the cage a little furry creature hops out. This, it seems, is a fwooble. All together now: awww! If you read the book you see the details of all the wizard's spells, page after page, followed by a handy appendix on fwoobles. A good job the wizard hasn't had his appendix removed. The spell details give the objects required, the incantation, and sometimes an explanation of the less-obvious ones. The only trouble is, once in the cottage I wasn't allowed to leave again, so this may be an adventure where you must quit and start again, bearing in mind the knowledge you've obtained.\r\n\r\nThe piccies are a bit slow to draw, and only the odd one is worth the wait, but you can always PIX OFF. The locations in the woods around the Realm contain a variety of people and animals, and The Quill is used to handle them well. The initial problems are fairly straightforward. Greet the old woman and she offers you a gift if you'll get her some firewood, while the little girl wants an apple. If you're female you can kiss the minstrel to listen to a song, while if you're male he asks for a song in exchange for a gift. The men get their kiss later with a maiden in the forest, though, so that's okay.\r\n\r\nThese problems and sub-problems are well-nested, and you have to keep careful notes as to who wants what, and also search everywhere you go. Some of the extra little touches really amused me, like if you jump in the pond you scare a duck, and if you try to get the duck it lays an egg and flies off quacking. Sound effects are used, as much as the Speccy/Patch combination allows, so that when you drop an object there's a splat, for example. The minstrel's song also has musical accompaniment, and, if you play as a male you learn part of the song from one of the other characters, then when you go to SING SONG to the minstrel he teaches you a bit more and next time you SING SONG you get a longer verse on-screen while the Spectrum beeps merrily away.\r\n\r\nAn excellent game for beginners, and anyone who likes to see an adventure with a bit of imagination. Spell-casters will enjoy it too, while Quill users should buy it and see what can still be done to brighten up an adventure.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"109","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Mike Gerrard","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Text","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Personal Rating","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 71, Feb 1988","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1988-01-18","Editor":"David Kelly","TotalPages":108,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nAdventure Help: Gordo Greatbelly\r\nZapchat: Jon Riglar\r\nHelpline: Andrew Hewson\r\nContributors: Richard Price, Tony Bridge, Chris Jenkins, Tony Dillon, Gary Rook\r\nHardware Correspondent: Rupert Goodwins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mike Corr\r\nSales Executive: Steve Prescott\r\nClassified Sales/Production: Alison Morton\r\nPublisher's Secretary: Debbie Pearson\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscription Enquiries [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Illustration: Jim Davis\r\n\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\nABC 84,699 July-Dec 1986"},"MainText":"Label: Willsoft, [redacted]\r\nAuthor: In-house\r\nPrice: £2.99\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nReviewer: Gary Rook\r\n\r\nThe Realm would have been an easy program to review, if it hadn't been for the letter from the author which accompanied it. In said letter, said author explained his philosophy of adventure writing: as he sees it, the main problem with most adventures is that they make what in the real world are simple actions, like entering a house, into complex problems the solution of which depends on performing a number of different separate actions. This, he suggests, is frustrating, and he has avoided using such 'problems'.\r\n\r\nWith all that build up, I was expecting something rather special once I'd loaded up the actual program, which, like so many independent adventures, was written using The Quill, Patch or Illustrator - but, no...\r\n\r\nAlthough the game has over 50 locations, all of which feature split screen illustrations, the game is a bit dull, with a plot that tends to be a trifle on the simplistic side and graphics that look a bit crude. This is all a bit unfortunate, as I suspect that quite a lot of effort has gone into writing the adventure.\r\n\r\nWandering through the wilderness north of Thryll Town, the cassette insert tells you, you find yourselves in some wild woods, populated with the usual assortment of adventuring stereotypes - the wizard, the minstrel, the old crone and so on.\r\n\r\nOne of the main problems with it is that you are so limited in what you can do. A quick glance at the cassette inlay will show you that there are only 36 possible commands which you can use, apart from the magic words which you can pick up during the adventure. Eight of these are compass directions, and up, down, in and out make up another four. Five are program commands, like Save or Load. That only leaves 19 different words with which to solve all the problems of a 50 location adventure!\r\n\r\nIt's a bit annoying to find a house very close to the start location, and to have problems trying to get in! It's all very well to burble on about making things simple for people, but you can't get much more simple that Enter - and to constantly get the reply hocus pocus is a bit discombobulating. Actually, you can get simpler - the correct command is In.\r\n\r\nSimilarly, if you want to get a room description again, then the standard L or Look are completely useless; only R - short for redescribe - will work.\r\n\r\nThe Realm is a decent, if unexciting, adventure program which is unlikely to appeal to experienced adventurers.\r\n\r\nEither way I'm less than enthusiastic about the program on side two of the tape, Boxing Manager. If you like these management type games, then you might enjoy Boxing Manager - for a couple of hours. But there isn't really much to attract either serious sports fans or anyone looking for a challenging strategy game. You start with a boxer, who has ratings for strength, stamina and skill; you can hire a trainer to increase these ratings; the more a trainer can teach your lad, the more he costs to hire; you get more money by entering your fighter in contests which he wins; and that's it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"Decent if simplistic adventure with a very basic sports strategy game on the flip side.","Page":"97","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Gary Rook","Score":"6","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"6/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 84, Oct 1988","Price":"£1.1","ReleaseDate":"1988-09-16","Editor":"Eugene Lacey","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Eugene Lacey\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nSub-Editor: Seamus St. John\r\nStaff Writer: Matt Bielby\r\nArt Editor: Craig Kennedy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Garry Williams\r\nSales Executive: Sian Jones\r\nAdvertisement Production: Lora Clark\r\nPublisher: Terry Pratt\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]"},"MainText":"SUPPLIER: D&H Games\r\nMACHINES: Spectrum 48K\r\nPRICE: £9.95\r\n\r\nIf you wandered into a lonely cottage and found a wizard, what would you do if he asked you stay behind and guard his spell book whilst he went in search of a missing page, recently stolen by a goblin?\r\n\r\nWould you hang around, trusting him to return within a reasonable time, or would you desert your post? I hung around a bit, examined his mouldy carrot, and let his pet fwooble out of its cage, tried reading the book with little success, and after a while, began to seriously wonder whether he would bother to come back/ Carefully guarding the book, I thought I would take a stroll outside for a breath of fresh air, and see if I could find him. Oppps! The book was definitely magic, for I was picked up and whisked back inside the cottage again!\r\n\r\nThe Realm is set in a strange wood, and has monochrome graphics that are mostly passable, in some cases quite detailed. They may be turned on and off with a PIX command.\r\n\r\nThe parser accepts only two words, and whilst I have always thought of myself as basically a two-word adventurer, having been playing Fish extensively, I found it rather limiting. I wanted to put the fwooble back in its cage, to put the carrot inside the kettle. I began to feel a mite frustrated, not the least due to a not over-endowed vocabulary, until I stopped to think: \"If I can't eneter a command because it is too complex, then the game does not require it!\"\r\n\r\nAn interesting little adventure that puts the player in quite an original dilemma at the start, and is pleasant to play.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"85","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Keith Campbell","Score":"7","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Vocabulary","Score":"6/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Personal","Score":"7/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Value","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 9, Aug 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-07-21","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nEditor: Oliver Frey\r\nAssistant Editor: Nik Wild\r\nProduction Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nSoftware Co-ordinator: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Robin Hogg, Stewart Wynne\r\nEditorial Assistant: Frances Mable\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Robin Candy, Mark Caswell, Mel Croucher, Robin Evans, Roger Kean, John Woods, MC Wynne\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n[redacted]\r\nProduction Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nArt Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nAssistant Art Director: Wayne Allen\r\nProduction Team: Matthew Uffindell, Ian Chubb, Yvonne Priest, Melvin Fisher, Robert Millichamp\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublisher: Geoff Grimes\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Andrew Smales, Sarah Chapman\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\n\r\nMAIL ORDER\r\nCarol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS\r\nDenise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by the Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group. Distribution effected by COMAG, [redacted].\r\n\r\nCOMPETITION RULES\r\nThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of THE GAMES MACHINE. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop Fran Mable a line at the PO Box 10 address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into THE GAMES MACHINE - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitably stamped, addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photographic material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©Newsfield Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £1.99\r\n\r\nD&H Games are more famous for their football orientated software, it was therefore with interest and some trepidation that I loaded this adventure from their new budget label, Cult, hoping that it wouldn't be a Football Frenzy.\r\n\r\nThe first point of interest is the staggering in-depth game background include in the packaging. It is:\r\n\r\n'Wandering through the wilderness to the North of Thryll town, you come across a strange wood. Dare you step beneath its brooding eaves?' Makes you want to rip the cassette box open and plunge in doesn't it?\r\n\r\nAfter ingesting the scenario I started the game loading and waited. The first screen to appear asked if I was male or female, once I had decided and input my answer the adventure proper began.\r\n\r\nA garish green screen sat before me informing in black text that I was south of the wood. A very basic, childish graphic stared back at me from atop the written descriptions. This was obviously the spooky wood the scenario was daring me to enter... In I went.\r\n\r\nThe text descriptions are sparse, treating you with such dripping prose as 'The forest. Exits are North' and 'The Cottage. Exits are North and Northwest'.\r\n\r\nRegardless, I trudged onward. The first place of interest was the wizard's cottage in which I found a book of spells, a furry creature and a carrot. The wizard asked me to stay and guard his magic book until he returned. Deciding not to trust him, I tried to leave (with the book), unfortunately magic powers were working to prevent me from doing so. I discarded the spellbook for the time being and walked out of the cottage to explore the surrounding wood.\r\n\r\nA ONE-CARROT GAME\r\n\r\nI came across an old woman, a minstrel (who sang a ballad for me) and a fair maiden. All these characters were there for a reason. Quickly discovering the lack of vocabulary within the adventure and deciding that none of them were interested in my carrot. I continued on my travels. Further discoveries included a pond, a swarm of bees, a snake and a duck - which I managed to frighten sufficiently to make it lay an egg.\r\n\r\nThe Realm is a not a good adventure. it lacks all the ingredients necessary to keep you playing (except for the ease of mapping) and its problems are obscure enough to prompt premature boredom. That it is a budget game is no excuse for producing an interior product, perhaps D & H Games should stick to their successful format of football simulations.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"68","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rob Steel","Score":"18","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Plain graphics, minstrels - dare you step beneath it's stultifying prose?"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"18%","Text":""},{"Header":"Interaction","Score":"17%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"18%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]