[{"TitleName":"Quick Thinking!","Publisher":"Mirrorsoft Ltd","Author":"Steve Mercer","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0009168","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 44, Sep 1987","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1987-08-27","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Richard Eddy, Lloyd Mangram, Ian Phillipson, Ben Stone\r\nPhotographers: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson\r\nOffice: Sally Newman\r\nTechnical Editor: Simon N Goodwin\r\nAdventure: Derek Brewster\r\nPBM: Brendon Kavanagh\r\nStrategy: Philippa Irving\r\nLondon: John Minson\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Robin Candy, Mike Dunn, Franco Frey, Dominic Handy, Nick Roberts, Mark Rothwell, Paul Sumner\r\nEducational Software: Rosetta McLeod\r\n\r\nPRODUCTION\r\n\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Gordon Druce\r\nIllustrator: Oliver Frey\r\nLayout: Tony Lorton, Mark Kendrick\r\nProcess and Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Jonathan Rignall, Nick Orchard\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Nick Wild\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group.\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\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 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.\r\n\r\n©1987 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"CRASH COURSE\r\n\r\nBy Rosetta McLeod\r\n\r\nCRASH COURSE is back with a roundup of educational software for the new school year.\r\n\r\nAnd ROSETTA MCLEOD, who runs computer-assisted learning for the regional council in Aberdeen, will take the class in Crash every three months from now on.\r\n\r\nSo the next Crash COURSE will be in issue 47, on sale 26 November. Read it - after all, there's never anything else for teachers to do around that time of year.\r\n\r\nIn the meantime you may talk QUIETLY among yourselves.\r\n\r\nLEEDS UNIVERSITY physics student R L Navin has designed a very interesting adventure/arcade game for the 10-16 age group. The player must visit a series of locations, solving a physics-related problem in each. I've seen part of the design, and it has some potential - now Navin is looking for someone to program it with a view to marketing this educational game commercially. Anyone interested can write to me at Crash, and I'll forward the letters.\r\n\r\nFOR EVERYONE who's asked about catalogues of educational software very good catalogues are available from Rickets Educational Media, [redacted], and from Micro-Jenn Software, [redacted] (if writing to Micro-Jenn, specify that it's Spectrum software you're interested in).\r\n\r\nFRACTIONS 2\r\n\r\nProducer: Key Software, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £4 on tape, £5.50 on microdrive\r\nAge Range: 9 to secondary-remedial level\r\n\r\nThe first two programs on this tape are leaching programs, and the last tests the player's knowledge. Are They The Same? shows that when the numerator and denominator are equal the fraction must equal one, and that fractions such as 2/4, 3/6 and 4/8 are equal.\r\n\r\nWork Them Out extends this to the numerical concept of equivalent fractions. And Match Them sets some fraction problems. Overall, Fractions 2 is an excellent package, and the teaching sequences make very good use of graphics.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: good\r\nGraphics: extremely good visual representations and clear colours\r\nGeneral Rating: A very effective and attractive method of teaching fractions; it'll give the teacher/parent good information on the child's grasp of the concepts, too.\r\n\r\nDECIMALS\r\n\r\nProducer: Key Software\r\nRetail Price: £4 in tape, £5.50 on microdrive\r\nAge Range: 11 to secondary-remedial level\r\n\r\nDecimals tests a pupil's understanding of place-value series and the multiplication and division of decimal fractions by ten and 100. A question might ask, for example, 'what is 3.7 x 100?'. If the child gets it wrong a help window appears and the process is taught clearly and graphically, using the example in which the mistake was made. This very useful little program can be used to reinforce understanding of decimal fractions and place-value series.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: very good\r\nGraphics: clear graphical representations in the help window, attractive colour\r\nGeneral Rating: The help window is a particularly useful feature of this valuable program.\r\n\r\nLOOK SHARP!\r\n\r\nProducer: Mirrorsoft, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nAge Range: 7+\r\nAuthor: Widgit\r\n\r\nWritten by a head teacher, the two programs in this package are aimed at sharpening observation skills and visual memory.\r\n\r\nThe first, Old MacDonald's Farm, contains three simple games. Memory challenges the player to reconstruct a farmyard scene from memory; Odd-One-Out tests observation with a spot-the-difference game, and Snap is the old favourite for one or two players.\r\n\r\nLook Sharp's second main program, S.O.R.T. (standing for Space Observer Recruitment Test), measures the player's readiness for a space mission to the Spiral Galaxy. After some practice SORTs, SORT 1 tests visual perception: two columns each made up of three picture elements appear on the screen and the player must spot when elements match.\r\n\r\nThe next SORT deals with visual discrimination. This time, six versions of the same picture are shown, one slightly different from the others - the player has to pick the odd one out. The pictures are quite small with lots of detail, so it's not an easy task.\r\n\r\nAnd the final SORT tests visual memory - I discovered mine isn't very good! A picture with nine different elements is shown, and when it vanishes the player has to reconstruct the picture from memory, putting each element in the right place.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: fast, but single-key commands make it ideal for very young children\r\nGraphics: very nice indeed\r\nGeneral Rating: Very good value for money, with a strong fun element.\r\n\r\nMYSELF AND US\r\n\r\nProducer: Key Software\r\nRetail Price: £4 in tape, £5.50 on microdrive\r\nAge Range: 7 to secondary level\r\n\r\nThese two were designed to provide a simple introduction to graphs, but they can also be used separately. Myself is a very simple program which provides the child with information about himself derived from his date of birth - the Chinese year of his birth, his age in years, star sign, number of days lived and day of birth, and an appropriate extract from the rhyme Monday's Child. All this can be printed out on a ZX-type printer.\r\n\r\nIn the second program, Us, the user chooses a graph from one of the following categories: Starsign, Day Of Birth, Favourite Pet, Favourite Colour, Letters in First Name, Favourite Sport. Rooms in The House and Spare (which can be used for a topic of the teacher's choice). Up to 36 users can input information in each category, and then a graph of this information is displayed. So the relationship between the facts and their graphical representation is strengthened, and Myself And Us not only allows children to enter data about themselves but can also give such information as the day of the week on which an event happened or the star sign of a famous person.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: very last, with clear screen instructions\r\nGraphics: the block, line and solid graphs are all clearly shown, with effective colour\r\nGeneral Rating: Excellent and enjoyable.\r\n\r\nREAD-RIGHT-AWAY\r\n\r\nProducer: H S Software, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nAge Range: 5 - 8\r\n\r\nThe two programs here aim to teach children to read using the phonic method - sounding out each letter of the word.\r\n\r\nSplashdown involves completing three-letter words. It takes place at sea; each player has a boat made up of three-letter words with one letter missing. If the correct letter is chosen, an aeroplane collects the letter and bombs the 'word boat', which then explodes and sinks into the player's underwater store, providing a visual record of the finished word.\r\n\r\nThe menu allows you to set the skill level, and choose sequences of words which are similar (eg three all beginning with c and ending with t) or completely different (eg s-t, p-d). The position of the missing letter can also be selected.\r\n\r\nFirefight involves completing words with pairs of letters. This time, the player has to rescue the heroine from the top of a burning building by bridging holes in the building's floor with letters' Again, there's a choice of skill levels, and the letter pairs can be selected.\r\n\r\nBoth games are very nicely presented and fun to play while providing practice in useful skills.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: fast\r\nGraphics: very eye-catching and attractive, with effective colour.\r\nGeneral Rating: Two enjoyable programs with built-in flexibility, so you can cater for each child.\r\n\r\nCOUNT WITH OLIVER\r\n\r\nProducer: Mirrorsoft, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £7.95\r\nAge Range: 4 - 7\r\nAuthor: Marmalade Software\r\n\r\nThese two games introduce young children to the basics of counting and simple addition and subtraction. In Toyshop, Oliver asks the player to count the toys in a shop window. Three different kinds of toys appear in three colours, and the program introduces the idea of sets as well as numbers.\r\n\r\nToyshop is structured very well, becoming more difficult only when correct responses show the child's coping well.\r\n\r\nLollipop gets further into simple arithmetic. First the prayer has to help Oliver buy lollipops of various colours from the shop; then the quantities of lollipops are added or subtracted. The second time you play the game in a session, two-digit numbers are introduced.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: responsive\r\nGraphics: simple but attractive\r\nGeneral Rating: Two well-structured, easy-to-handle programs which children will enjoy.\r\n\r\nWORDS AND PICTURES\r\n\r\nProducer: Chalksoft, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £9.95\r\nAge Range: 3 - 7\r\n\r\nWords And Pictures contains four programs which should encourage children to read. It uses 47 words common in early-reading schemes, and deals both with words and with sentences. In the two words programs, four colourful pictures are shown and a word is printed underneath in lower-case letters. The child must match it to the right picture. The two sentence programs are similar. A nice feature for classroom use: you can store a list of names and scores, and the computer will call each child to the program when it's his turn. The booklet is good, too.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: good; single-key commands\r\nGraphics: very appealing, with excellent colour\r\nGeneral Rating: An attractive package, making excellent use of graphics and sound, suitable for home and school.\r\n\r\nHOTLINE QUIZ\r\n\r\nProducer: Chalksoft, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £9.95\r\nAge Range: 8 to adult\r\n\r\nThis is one of the best quiz programs on the market. The player must repair the hotline telephone link between the world's leaders by correctly answering up to 20 questions. The question sets cover topics ranging from Holidays to Words to Cowboys to Monsters to Pirates.\r\n\r\nThey're graded by difficulty, and new questions can be entered and saved. 11 children are allowed to research and word the questions and answers themselves, they'll be involved in a very effective learning process.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: good; single-key commands\r\nGraphics: limited but attractive, with good colour\r\nGeneral Rating: An excellent and flexible program which can be enjoyed by all the family.\r\n\r\nSETS\r\n\r\nProducer: AlphaPlus Educational Software, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £8.95 plus 90p postage and packing\r\nAge Range: GCSE and GCE O level students\r\n\r\nSets is the first program in a series of mathematical software from Alphaplus, presenting a new approach to maths education - helping students develop confidence and a deeper understanding of mathematics. The series is based on the GCSE and GCE O level syllabuses.\r\n\r\nThis attractive package includes an extremely comprehensive and well-produced 47-page manual with examples and problems to solve. (No cheating!)\r\n\r\nThe menu offers six options covering sets and Venn diagrams. For the option DRAW VENN DIAGRAMS, for instance, the manual sets 12 problems for the student to solve on paper before using the program to check the answers.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: good\r\nGraphics: clear and effective, with colour used sensibly to aid understanding\r\nGeneral Rating: A very good, comprehensive package developed by experts and aimed at the serious student.\r\n\r\nAUTO CHEF\r\n\r\nProducer: Cases Computer Simulations, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £5.95\r\nAge Range: older student/adults\r\n\r\nIn Auto Chef you become Managing Director of a restaurant chain. The object of this simulation is to quickly increase your £1 million capital to £25 million and take over Trust House Forte!\r\n\r\nYou can up business information onscreen, ranging from a balance sheet to a bar chart summarising a survey of customers' eating habits.\r\n\r\nAnd you have to remember there's a greater gross profit percentage on restaurants and cafeterias than on fast-food outlets and takeaways.\r\n\r\nMenu prices, too, must be considered - but if prices are too high, customers will be lost.\r\n\r\nBulk purchase of food and wine, advertising costs, wages, fixtures and fittings... all these have to be taken into account, and all the time you need to keep the shareholders happy or they'll force you to resign!\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: fast, with simple control keys\r\nGraphics: clear bar charts and histograms, but limited colour\r\nGeneral Rating: For business studies students, excellent practice in reading accounts and balance sheets.\r\n\r\nQUICK THINKING\r\n\r\nProducer: Mirrorsoft, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £6.95\r\nAge Range: 6 - 12\r\nAuthor: Widgit\r\n\r\nThe Quick Thinking , cassette contains two early-learning programs, Sum Vaders and Robot Tables.\r\n\r\nSum Vaders, for one or two players, gives practice in adding and subtracting a number appears on an Invading spaceship and another on the alien robot which it drops, and these two numbers must be added or subtracted before the robot lands. A wrong answer leaves the world defenceless against the robot invaders'\r\n\r\nIn Robot Tables the player controls a machine manufacturing robots and has to make sure components are assembled in the right order. Again, several levels of difficulty are offered, and it's also possible to control the speed of the machine. At the fastest speed and the most difficult level this is quite a challenge, and the player really needs to know their multiplication tables.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: responsive, with simple control keys\r\nGraphics: very attractive to children, with clear bright colours\r\nGeneral Rating: A good, value-for-money package.\r\n\r\nPHOTOSYNTHESIS\r\n\r\nProducer: AVP Computing, [redacted]\r\nRetail Price: £10\r\nAge Range: O level students\r\n\r\nPhotosynthesis is a major topic in all biology syllabuses, and this program aims to give factual information and help revision.\r\n\r\nThe menu offers four options: The Structure Of A Leaf, Adaptations Of A Leaf, Photosynthesis Experiments, and The Chemistry Of Photosynthesis.\r\n\r\nIn the section on leaf structure, the user has to label correctly the diagram of a transverse section of a leaf - but before starting he can choose to see a correctly-labelled diagram. When the labels have been entered, the computer does the marking and presents the option of trying again, going on to another section, or seeing the correctly-labelled diagram.\r\n\r\nThe leaf-adaptations option shows how leaves are designed to perform their functions efficiently. Again, the computer will demonstrate the various adaptations and the student is asked to match each adaptation to the role it plays - absorption of sunlight, transportation of gases and so on.\r\n\r\nBefore starting the third section the student should have seen demonstrations of several photosynthesis experiments. The computer demonstrates the apparatus used to test a leaf for starch; to show that light, carbon dioxide and chlorophyll are necessary for photosynthesis; and to show that oxygen is produced.\r\n\r\nEach stage of an experiment is outlined in simple terms and illustrated with graphics, and then the result of the experiment is clearly stated. The user must match the apparatus to the right experiment.\r\n\r\nThe final section of Photosynthesis, The Chemistry of Photosynthesis, contains a very clear demonstration of the reaction equation, and again the computer tests and marks the student's knowledge.\r\n\r\nPhotosynthesis is a wide and complex topic, so this program doesn't attempt to cover every facet - but it's a very useful aid for O level.\r\n\r\nKeyboard play: good\r\nGraphics: simple, but used to good effect; limited colour\r\nGeneral Rating: A useful aid which makes a very difficult topic much more accessible.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"95","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rosetta McLeod","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 24, Mar 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-16","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bill Scolding\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: June Mortimer\r\nIllustrator/Designer: Brian King\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: John Ross\r\nSales Executive: Annette Burrows\r\nProduction Assistant: Dezi Epaminondou\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nManaging Editor: Nigel Clark\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 the copyright of each program published and £50 per 1,000 words for each article used.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1984\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":"GOOD SOFTWARE COUNTS iN LEARNING ARITHMETIC\r\n\r\nThis month Theodora Wood looks at programs which aim to help children with their sums.\r\n\r\nMany programs which deal with arithmetical skills provide drill situations and can be seen as the extension of the workbooks and worksheets which children use at school. Their educational aims therefore are relatively modest but include the fact that the programs familiarise children with computers, but only as a drill machine.\r\n\r\nHot Dog Spotter - Longman, Spectrum 16/48K, £7.95 - is an example. Designed to appeal to young children and to give them practice at counting, its format borrows features from arcade games. Dice drop from the top of the screen and the child has to recognise the number (1-9) on the dice before it reaches the bottom. If correct, the ball is returned to its pot; if incorrect, the numbers are counted out and the ball is lost. After three balls are lost the game is finished.\r\n\r\nThe child has to ENTER his name and a high score is kept. The game adjusts to the player's skill; if the correct number is pressed when the ball is in the yellow zone, three points are awarded, if pink two points, and the green zone scores only one point if must entries are in the lower half of the screen the game will consist of the lower numbers. The action is fast so there is very little time to count the numbers, especially since they are no presented in conventional dice formation.\r\n\r\nCountabout - Longman, Spectrum 16/48K, £7.95 - operates on three levels of difficulty - addition, subtraction and a combination of both. A box appears in the middle of the screen with a number of objects in it - telephones, crocodiles, boats or any other of the nine objects. A sum appears at the left-hand side, for example 2 + ? = 4, and the child has to press the required number.\r\n\r\nIf incorrect, there are two more attempts, until the correct answer is shown. If correct, the box is filled with the correct number of objects and the chimpanzee moves up the banana tree on the left of the screen until it finally reaches the bananas at the top and the game is finished. Unlike Hot Dog Spotter, there is no time element, so the child can count the numbers carefully.\r\n\r\nBoth the programs illustrate the single program concept; there is no opportunity to change any of the parameters and, because a child's attention span is short, they cannot be used for very long periods. By contrast, Party Time - Clever Clogs, Spectrum 48K, £6.50 - is geared to overcome that problem. Aimed at the three-plus age group, a variety of six activities is provided, all LOADed at the same time. A menu is provided and the child can choose any of the activities, although there are times when the computer will choose.\r\n\r\nIncluded in the activities are two arithmetical ones - Counting and How Many? - which show in the first instance objects to be counted on the screen and in the second simple additions. The correct answer is given after three incorrect attempts. No more than four of them needs to be done at any one turn and then there is a nursery rhyme before returning to the menu. The parameters can be set for both.\r\n\r\nJungle Jumble - Clever Clogs, Spectrum 48K, £6.50 - develops the idea further for older children. Ten questions have to be answered while a picture of an animal is built and a safari game can be played. Among the questions are some simple arithmetical problems, such as three boys share six sweets, how many each? One hundred questions are provided and the opportunity is given to edit the questions to suit the individual child. By providing variety and the opportunity to personalise its programs, Clever Clogs has produced a much more flexible package than the one-game format Longman used.\r\n\r\nModel Maths - Jive Software, Spectrum 48K, £5.75 - provides two programs based on real-life situations. Dartscore is a simulated game of darts in which the computer throws the darts and the player keeps the score on three levels of difficulty. Beginners have to add the total score of five darts, juniors start with 51 and count down, and experts begin with 101 and do the same.\r\n\r\nBalance simulates a set of scales and the player has four choices, to match a given weight up to 20, to find a secret weight up to 20, and the same for numbers up to 99. The child must put weights on the scales to make them balance. Avoiding the absolute correct or incorrect result of many arithmetic programs, Balance enables a child to play with combinations of numbers to achieve the correct result. Only 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 are used, reflecting our currency.\r\n\r\nLearning tables is an example of rote learning which has provided software houses with an opportunity to invent a variety of approaches to aid a child to reach the position to supply an answer with no conscious effort. Chanting the tables in a classroom situation rather like a mantra is the traditional way of arriving at that position and Know Your Tables - Collins, Spectrum 16/48K, £5.95 - borrows this methodology and develops it further by providing a visual aid in the form of a number grid.\r\n\r\nThere is a choice of building a multiplication table or learning a table. The child can choose which table to build from one to 10; the computer then builds a grid of numbers from one to 50 and when the higher tables are chosen that continues up to 100. Then the child has to answer the questions, for example 1 X 3 = ? and continues until the table reaches 10x3.\r\n\r\nWhen that is complete the child has to learn the flashing line, 9 x 3 = 27, and then say it three times. Learn a Table builds the grid and then colours the appropriate numbers, so the child can see the pattern as it is built, then learning the flashing line and saying it three times. The program is accompanied by a workbook which provides numerous activities to support the learning provided by the tables on screen.\r\n\r\nA less conventional way of learning tables can be seen in Robot Tables included in Quick Thinking - Mirrorsoft, Spectrum 48K, £6.95. There are two choices of speed - slow for learning and fast for testing - and there is a choice of which tables to include, ranging from 2 only to 9, 6, 8, 7, 12. A large robot machine is fed with numbered blocks; the tables number is displayed and the child has to accept the block by pressing I or reject the block by pressing SPACE. The answers work through a given table in sequence 4, 8, 12, 16 and if the player does not press anything or gives an incorrect answer, the block goes up in smoke or a bad robot is made.\r\n\r\nIf correct, a good robot is made amid much whirring and clicking; correctly-rejected blocks are re-cycled. Points are awarded for correct answers and lost for incorrect ones.\r\n\r\nAlso on Quick Thinking is Sum Vaders, a drill routine to practise addition and subtraction, suitable for all ages from five to adult. There is a choice of one or two players who can be given different skill levels to play, varying from using numbers up to nine to adult level. A numbered space ship drops a numbered robot; if the answers given are correct the robot disintegrates; an incorrect answer jams the ship and the correct answer is shown when the robot lands; when five robots have landed the game is finished. The program provides practice in the skills of mental arithmetic but could also be used as calculator practice.\r\n\r\nThe format is also used in Maths invaders - Stell Software, Spectrum 16/48K, £6.95. The player can choose addition, subtraction, multiplication or division at any of six levels. A score is kept at the top of the screen while the sum appears at the bottom. If the correct answer is given the player can fire a gun at the invaders by pressing any key; that can also be moved by pressing O or P but is rather unresponsive. The graphics are also disappointing and not up to the standard of the Longman package.\r\n\r\nJungle Maths - SCisoft, Spectrum 48K ZX version, £6.95 - is another drill program in fancy packaging. The parent or teacher can set the parameters of the game before it begins. There is a choice of addition or subtraction at three levels from less than 10 to less than 1,000. Practice with decimals and negatives can be chosen and the time limit varied from 20 seconds to five minutes 20 seconds. Pressing X while the child is doing the problems will give the number of incorrect answers.\r\n\r\nThe aim is to pass through the jungle at the top of the screen; to move a space requires the correct answer. If an incorrect answer is given the player is overtaken by one of the hazards, falling into the pit or being eaten by piranhas.\r\n\r\nThe difficulty with that approach is that giving an incorrect answer produces a more spectacular result than the correct answer and children operating the program alone will learn that quickly. It also seems strange that, although Scisoft seems to be aiming at both the home and school market, there is no opportunity to change the parameters without reLOADing the program. which could be very time-consuming in a classroom.\r\n\r\nPaddington's Shopping Mix-up - Collins, Spectrum 16/48K, £6.95 - takes a completely different approach from all the other programs discussed in that it introduces sums of all kinds in a story-time format. There is a Paddington story book with the tape and the activities are based on it. Five programs are provided, each to be LOADed separately. Paddington features in all the programs, so if a child is a Paddington fan it will have a certain appeal.\r\n\r\nPlenty of counting practice is provided in Grocer, counting apples and carrots as they go on to the scale. Sums provides a choice of six skill levels in all four types but the skill level moves up with correct answers, which can be rather daunting. Which, Doubles and Labels all provide more arithmetical situations and in the case of Doubles it is in the form of a board game to be played by one or two players, with counting practice in the form of dice thrown.\r\n\r\nAll the programs are examples of the various ways in which the Spectrum graphics, sound and animation capabilities have been used to make sums more entertaining. The majority of the programs will be used by parents and children at home, as the ratio of children to computers in schools is only 200:1.\r\n\r\nThe implications are various. Will there emerge a group of children with greater skill in these areas due to the extra practice obtained on home computers? Will parents feel more able to teach children a home by using these materials? Another consideration is that of the importance of obtaining a high degree of skill in an area where it is no longer necessary; decimalisation of the currency, calculators, electronic tills, have all altered life and work involving arithmetic skills radically. At a basic level, the programs are materials to be used with the computer as a learning machine and their success will differ according to the individual preferences of both parent and child - we cannot all love Paddington.\r\n\r\nPrograms by Longman, Microsoft and Collins are widely available in stores.\r\n\r\nClever Clogs, [redacted].\r\n\r\nStell Software, [redacted].\r\n\r\nScisoft, [redacted].\r\n\r\nJive Software, [redacted].","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"114,115,116","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Theodora Wood","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 49, Feb 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-23","Editor":"Cyndy Miles","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Cyndy Miles\r\nDeputy Editor: Geof Wheelwright\r\nManaging Editor: Peter Worlock\r\nSub-Editors: Harriet Arnold, Leah Batham\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nHardware Editor: Ian Scales\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPrograms Editor: Ken Garroch\r\nPeripherals Editor: Piers Letcher\r\nListings Editor: Wendie Pearson\r\nEditor's Assistant: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Robinson\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Floyd Sayers\r\nLayout Artist: Nigel Wingrove\r\nPublishing Manager: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nPublishing Secretary: Jenny Dunne\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Pat Dolan\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarion Gravelle\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Mark Satchell\r\nSales Executives: Christian McCarthy, Marie-Therese Bolger, Laura Cade, Julia Dale, Paul Evans, Deborah Quinn\r\nProduction Manager: Eva Haggis\r\nMicroshop Production: Nikki Payne\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":"SCHOOL FOR SPECTRUM\r\n\r\nSimple programs for small children? Read what Daphne Sullivan and Mike Gerrard have to say.\r\n\r\nAdding & Subtracting (£5.25) [redacted]\r\n\r\nLetters and Numbers (£5.50) Jim Jams Software, [redacted]\r\n\r\nQuick Thinking (£6.95) Mirrorsoft, [redacted]\r\n\r\nADDING AND SUBTRACTING\r\n\r\nThree programs are included on this cassette to provide practice in addition and subtraction of numbers up to 20 for pre-school and primary children. To make the task more fun, the sums are presented in both picture and standard numerical form.\r\n\r\nThese programs teach or test a child who is learning the basic concepts of addition and subtraction, by both completing computer-set sums and by setting their own questions.\r\n\r\nThe first program displays a number of blocks at the bottom of the screen. An engine pulling two trucks enters and halts in the centre of the screen. Some blocks are loaded onto each truck, and when the player has correctly counted them and has pressed the relevant number, the written form of the sum is displayed. As soon as the correct solution to this sum has been typed in, the train chugs off the screen, leaving behind the written sum together and the remaining unused blocks.\r\n\r\nIn the second of the programs, a boat laden with blocks appears, in a similar procedure, blocks are unloaded onto the quayside in order to illustrate a subtraction sum.\r\n\r\nThe final program Ducks provides practice in both addition and subtraction. A group of ducks sit on the bank of the river. The player is required to count how many leave the bank to take a swim or, alternatively, how many return.\r\n\r\nAlthough this program is great fun for those already confident and competent in manipulating numbers, it is misleading to the uncertain. In each of the programs, the written sum does not correspond to the picture displayed, eg in the Ducks program the written sum may be 2 + 3 = 5 but the screen display shows two ducks in the water and 7 more ducks on the bank. Another point worth noting is that none of the programs include the concept of zero.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are imaginative and attractive and fun to watch, but for any real benefit to be gained, parental help is a must.\r\n\r\nLETTERS AND NUMBERS\r\n\r\nAlthough this program does not profess to be educational, it is concerned with helping children, aged 2 years and over. In the skill of identifying numbers 1-9 and the alphabet letters.\r\n\r\nThe purpose of the program is to identify correctly the letter or number randomly selected by the computer and to press the corresponding key.\r\n\r\nEach correctly identified letter (both upper and lower case are displayed) or number is rewarded by a picture which either shows an article with the same initial letter or with the relevant number of items. Some pictures are accompanied by an appropriate tune/sound, eg when the xylophone appears (for 'x') each key on it lights up as its note on the so-fa scale is heard. If a wrong key is pressed the letter remains until correctly identified.\r\n\r\nFor parents who want to leave a child alone to complete the task, the player's success rate is recorded and displayed in the form of a percentage after each letter or number.\r\n\r\nIn spite of the imaginative graphics, this program falls short of either teaching or reinforcing any educational skills. Presumably the program aims to assist children in the acquisition of the pre-reading skills of recognition and matching. But since the letters and numbers displayed do not resemble their keyboard equivalent, matching is almost impossible.\r\n\r\nQUICK THINKING\r\n\r\nThe Daily Mirror has entered the software market with Mirrorsoft, and has done so with some style.\r\n\r\nMirrorsoft's aim is said to be 'computing for the family', with the purpose of the two games on this tape. Sum Vaders and Robot Tables, being to teach addition, subtraction and multiplication by using simplified arcade-style games.\r\n\r\nThe packaging is handsome, a large sturdy wallet including screen shots on front and back and comprehensive instructions both here and as options when the programs are loaded.\r\n\r\nBoth games can be played by one or two people. They are designed so that even the youngest players can safely be left to cope alone by disabling the Break key and including only the simplest of error-trapped instructions to follow. The graphics might not satisfy the arcade addicts, but they're smoothly done and should appeal to their audience.\r\n\r\nSum Vaders tests addition or subtraction and offers five skill levels; the easiest deals only with numbers up to 9, the hardest up to 99. A space ship slides across the top of the screen and a robot starts to descend. There is a number on both the ship and the robot. The player must add or subtract the two numbers and type the answer before the robot reaches the ground. Only one chance is permitted as a wrong answer jams the keys. Right answers score points, but if five robots manage to land then that's the end of the game and the total score is given. There is also a high score record.\r\n\r\nIf you're proving to be good at the game the space ship flies lower and lower demanding quicker responses.\r\n\r\nRobot Tables is naturally enough a test of the multiplication tables. The five skill levels range from two times tables only through to 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables at the hardest level. The setting is a robot factory, with the raw material for a robot appearing on a conveyor belt at the top left of the screen. Each piece of material has a number on it, and you must say if that number is the next one in sequence for the table being tested, which is shown on the side of one of the machines. Only two keys are needed for this game, 1 if you accept the number and SPACE if not.\r\n\r\nIf you correctly spot the wrong numbers this raw material disappears in one of several ways, and if you're correct with the right numbers then a perfect robot pops out at the end of the sequence of conveyor belts, mincers and machines. You're aiming to get ten good robots in a row at the foot of the screen, but if you get a wrong answer then the robot produced is of distinctly inferior quality. The game sounds easy enough, but it is a good test of your knowledge of the multiplication tables. There isn't much time in which to enter your answer.\r\n\r\nThis is an enjoyable package of two games, good value for money, and a welcome attempt to bring a little learning into the mass software market.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"59","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Daphne Sullivan","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Mike Gerrard","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 48, Feb 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-02-16","Editor":"Cyndy Miles","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Cyndy Miles\r\nDeputy Editor: Geof Wheelwright\r\nManaging Editor: Peter Worlock\r\nSub-Editors: Harriet Arnold, Leah Batham\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nHardware Editor: Ian Scales\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPrograms Editor: Ken Garroch\r\nPeripherals Editor: Piers Letcher\r\nListings Editor: Wendie Pearson\r\nEditor's Assistant: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Robinson\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Floyd Sayers\r\nLayout Artist: Nigel Wingrove\r\nPublishing Manager: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Publishing Manager: Sue Clements\r\nPublishing Secretary: Jenny Dunne\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Pat Dolan\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarion Gravelle\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Mark Satchell\r\nSales Executives: Christian McCarthy, Marie-Therese Bolger, Laura Cade, Julia Dale, Paul Evans, Deborah Quinn\r\nProduction Manager: Eva Haggis\r\nMicroshop Production: Nikki Payne\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":"THIS'LL LEARN YOU\r\n\r\nSome educational programs are not all in the same class. Colin Cohen puts a few to the test.\r\n\r\nFirst Steps With Mr Men (£8.95) Primer Educational Software, BBC (Spectrum soon).\r\n\r\nQuick Thinking (£6.95) Widgit Software, Spectrum/C64 (BBC soon).\r\n\r\nCaesar The Cat (£8.95) Andromeda Software, Commodore 64, Publisher: Mirrorsoft, Outlets: Mirrorsoft, [redacted] (Retail).\r\n\r\nAmazing Ollie and Ollie Octopus' Sketchpad (£6.95 each) Spectrum (16K)/BBC, Storm Software, [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublishing educational software is much like any other educational publishing - if it's to be of any use to the end user (old-fashioned parents call them children) it has to embody both sound educational ideas and sound publishing practices. In the case of computer programs everyone is still very much feeling their way and as a result it is often easy to confuse novelty with a good idea. This won't last long as the novelty soon wears off, and anyway the kids are not as likely to be impressed by gimmicks as their elders.\r\n\r\nMany programs now available can be used by primary school children with the minimum of adult intervention, but the child can easily be confused by the different conventions observed by different publishers, which means that programs differ within a series.\r\n\r\nMR MEN\r\n\r\nA case in point is the first of the Mirrorsoft programs I saw - First Steps with Mr Men which is followed by Quick Thinking and Caesar the Cat. They run on the Spectrum and Commodore 64 as well as the BBC B. Mirror Group Newspapers have done more than just buy big names and merchandise them as computer programs, but they still missed some opportunities.\r\n\r\nApart from the technical instructions there is a little 'Mr Men' booklet (by Richard Boulton and not Roger Hargreaves) for the adult to read aloud. It contains four stories (there are four programs on the tape) and each is written in a relaxing style. One would be quite happy to read them without the accompanying programs as there are little coloured drawings which mirror the screen displays.\r\n\r\nSo what are my reservations? Well, the instructions say that you need the short program name to CHAIN\"\" the program, when of course it is not needed as the tape itself shows. There are two programs on each side of the tape and one is told to <CTRL> <BREAK> and <CHAIN> to get to the next program. Surely a single key should be used for this!\r\n\r\nOn the face of it is also a nice idea to give the child a cardboard strip with four coloured and pointing Mr Clevers to fix above the function keys. Unfortunately the directions in which they are pointing are not that clear, nor is it immediately obvious which four function keys of the ten they refer to. My five year old would certainly have preferred the simplicity of the normal cursor keys to steer the cursor.\r\n\r\nOften, even in the best regulated programs, the child can find its operation simply too complicated. Under these circumstances (which do not really apply to Mr Men) it is nice to have an easy reward for the child. In the case of Mr Men two of the programs allow you to change the background colour just by using <TAB>, and in one case <CTRL> changes the foreground colour. The effect is very dramatic and rewarding as it cycles through the colours and its pleasing to get 'something for nothing'.\r\n\r\nThe games themselves are quite simple - two do little more than teach eye and hand co-ordination. In the first game Mr Greedy has to be directed at an ice cream, and each time the child succeeds the steering is made more difficult by added obstacles. In the second game only one of the keys is used, but even a five-year-old can still keep it pressed too long. The Mr Forgetful games are a form of pelmanism in which the child has to remember what is hidden in which cupboard - a good deal more difficult than the eye to hand co-ordination of the first two games. The animations of the Mr Men figures are a real pleasure, as is the hornpipe that is played as a reward!\r\n\r\nOLLIE OCTOPUS\r\n\r\nOllie Octopus comes from Storm Software and in Amazing Ollie he (or is it she?) has to be steered round a maze. I have taken it on trust that a billion different designs are possible. The octopus goes collecting fish round the maze which has a reassuringly solid feel if you make a wrong turning. In one version the fish are then re-displayed at the side with one larger fish representing the tens, which introduces the child to tens and units. Two further versions allow one to play against the clock or blindfold. Both are much too difficult for primary children, but the program does claim to be for the whole family. I'm not at all sure what is the point of steering round a maze which has not been drawn as I don't believe that it is possible to create in the mind and then memorise anything but the simplest maze.\r\n\r\nOllie Octopus' Sketchpad is intended for five year olds, but would be better regarded as an introduction to colour graphics for all ages. The cursor keys cannot be used as there are eight possible directions for which the function keys are used, while another cycles the colours. C draws a circle, V a square and B a triangle. + and L make them bigger/smaller, D is for disappear and S for shade: what logic is there in this choice?\r\n\r\nThere is a very neat demonstration program in which Ollie draws the cassette cover, it is well worth watching several times as it shows very clearly how you can create quite complex images from basic shapes. Apart from the choice of control keys the program is remarkably simple to use - more than can be said for some other paint programs, though it would probably be even easier for a child if the joysticks were used instead of the function keys for some purposes. And why, oh why is there no printer dump?\r\n\r\nNot everyone has a printer it is true, but surely no graphics program can be complete without one.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"50","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Colin Cohen","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]