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ISSUE #4

           /~~\               /~~~\               /\           /~~~\
           \ \/               | |> |             //\\         |
           /\ \               |  _/             ||__||        |  ~~\
      The  \__/ociety for the |_|reservation of ||  ||dventure \___/ames
    				ISSUE # 4
            Edited by G. Kevin Wilson (whizzard SP@G uclink.berkeley.edu)

    All email addresses are spamblocked -- replace the name of our magazine
    with the traditional 'at' sign.

    EDITORIAL--------------------------------------------------------------------

    	Let your mind drift a moment.  Some soft music would be appropriate,
    perhaps Jimmy Buffett, Three Dog Night, or Beethoven.  The swells of the
    music rise and fall.  You find yourself aboard a three-masted schooner,
    cresting the waves in grand majesty.  The roar of the water beneath the hull
    of the ship is relaxing, and strips away your worldly cares.  Breathe in the
    salty spray that mists before the ship, and grip the old wooden deck with
    your bare toes.  Your snug sailor's uniform warms you somewhat, the good,
    rough pants slightly damp from the salty spray, but they can't quite remove
    all the chill of the season.  It is refreshing, rather than uncomfortable.
    Grip the rough, salty ropes, and pull with all your might.  The high whisper
    of silk alerts you to the raising of the small sail just above you.  You wrap
    the rope around a nearby wooden peg and make it fast.  All in a day's work.

    	There, now pop back with me to reality, if you don't mind the
    interruption.  I'm sure you're curious what the heck that was all about.
    Well, it represents a tiny little reader exercise for those of you who like
    to write.  I would like you to transport, in 150 words or less, the reader to
    a place of your choosing.  No explanations or apologies for quality are
    allowed, I just want the little 'breather'.  Don't neccessarily use my
    'breather' as a model.  There are lots of ways to write such a thing, and any
    of them are just fine to use.  There are no particular rewards for doing this
    exercise, except a bit of mental wrestling, and seeing it in print if it's
    among the better ones I receive.  More likely, it'll be among the ONLY ones
    I receive. :)  So, if you're the slightest bit writer oriented, give it a
    try.  Some quick hints:

      1.) Effective use of at least 4 senses helps quite a bit.

      2.) Second person point of view removes distance from between the reader
          and the setting.

      3.) Short and powerful, rather than long and droning.

    	And, well, if you haven't noticed, this is remarkably similar to a
    room description in a text adventure.  Surprise.  Now you only need about
    another 199 to go for your first game. :)

    				G. Kevin Wilson
    				"Whizzard"

    LETTERS TO THE EDITOR--------------------------------------------------------

    KEY TO SCORES AND REVIEWS----------------------------------------------------

    Consider the following review header:

     NAME: Cutthroats                                PARSER: Infocom Standard
     AUTHOR: Infocom                                 PLOT: Two Seperate Paths
     EMAIL: ???                                      ATMOSPHERE: Well Done
     AVAILABILITY: LTOI 2                            WRITING: Good
     PUZZLES: Good                                   SUPPORTS: Infocom Ports
     CHARACTERS: Not Bad                             DIFFICULTY: Medium

    	First, you'll notice that the score has been removed, and replaced
    by one or two word ratings.  These are pretty arbitrary, and should allow
    more freedom to the reviewers.  The EMAIL section is for the e-mail address
    of the game author, not the reviewer.  AVAILABILITY will usually have either
    Commercial ($price), Shareware ($price), or Freeware.  If the commercial
    price varies in stores, then it will just say Commercial.  If it has been
    released in the LTOI collection, this line should say so.  Lastly, if it is
    available on ftp.gmd.de, the line should add GMD.  (Demo) if it's a demo
    version.  The body of the review hasn't changed.

    When submitting reviews:  Try to fill in as much of this info as you can.
    Also, scores are still desired along with the reviews, so send those along.
    The scores will be used in the ratings section.  Authors may not rate or
    review their own games.

    SPAG accepts reviews of any length, letters to the editor, the occasional
    interesting article on text adventures (no reprints please), and even just
    ratings for your favorite game, if you don't have the time to do a full
    review.  Please though, at least send me info for each game you have rated
    equivalent to the review header for Cutthroats, above.  All accepted
    materials will be headed by the submitter's name and e-mail address, unless
    you request that they be withheld, in which case the header will read as
    "Anonymous."

    NEW GAMES--------------------------------------------------------------------

    	This issue brings text adventure fans several great new TADS games to
    play.  Veritas, Waystation, and John's Fire Witch are all among the ones that
    I know of.  They are all available for anonymous FTP on ftp.gmd.de, in the
    appropriate game directories.  John's Fire Witch in particular has received
    rave reviews, even though it is a short game.
    	[Speaking of appropriate game directories, check out my Whizzard's
    Guide to Text Adventures, which should be following this issue sometime in
    the near future.]

    REVIEWS----------------------------------------------------------------------

    From: "Magnus Olsson"

    NAME: Another Lifeless Planet And Me With No Beer
    					PARSER: Pathetic
    AUTHOR: Dennis Drew			PLOT: Not very original
    EMAIL: ???				ATMOSPHERE: Absent
    AVAILABILITY: GMD, S10			WRITING: Acceptable
    PUZZLES: Standard, uninteresting	SUPPORTS: IBM
    CHARACTERS: Props			DIFFICULTY: Average

    One of the most important skills shareware authors have to learn, at
    least if they expect to earn any money, is that of promoting their
    products - it's a tough world out there, tons of shareware gets
    published every year, and if you don't promote your program it's not
    very like to get noticed.

    Dennis Drew, the author of this particular game, seems to have learned
    his lesson well in this regard.  Not only the accompanying
    documentation, but also the starting - and ending - screens of the
    game itself are full of superlatives describing how interesting, fun,
    high-quality, professional, and generally amazing it is - as are all
    of Mr. Drew's programs; one of the documentation files is a catalog
    listing his entire "astounding software line"; "from heavy-duty
    business programs to incredibly enjoyable games", all described in
    terms such as "incredible", "astounding" and "terrific".

    According to the docs, one of his programs was rated by COMPUTE
    Magazine as "One of the World's Best 101 Programs". I haven't tried
    that program, but from my experience of this game, as well as of my
    other sample of his products (included in the distribution was
    Compu-Nerd, "a highly professional and technical program designed to
    discover the age-old question, 'Am I a nerd?'", which after asking me
    some rather leading questions proceeded to feed me a few screenfuls of
    platitudes like "You are one of the millions of people who have found
    word processing to be an incredibly valuable comptuer function", and
    then rated me as a "Minor Nerd" - thanks a lot!), I can only conclude
    that Drew is right: it _is_ incredible.

    But back to the subject of this review: the game, which starts with
    the friendly greeting "WELCOME to another one of my incredibly
    interesting and logical adventure games".  Does it live up to the
    great expectations the author goes to such lengths to build up?
    Unfortunately, any user naive enough to take Drew's documentation at
    face value is bound to be disappointed.  The situation was aptly
    described 2000 years ago by Horace: "The mountains are in labour; an
    absurd little mouse is born".

    This doesn't mean that the game is a failure.  Indeed, had it been
    written in 1979 or so, for the PET or TRS-80 or some other early home
    computer, it would probably have been a great game. After all, there
    are quite long room descriptions, a graphic picture for every room
    (character graphics with the incredible resolution of 15*15 or so),
    and colour (a particularly tasteful colour scheme in light blue, dark
    blue, yellow, green, and bright magenta)!

    However, the game was actually written in 1989 for MS-DOS, so we'll
    have to apply slightly different standards of greatness.

    Even by those, more modern standards, the game has a few points to
    recommend it.  The plot may not be very original - you're stranded on
    an alien planet and have to find a way home - but at least the
    concept's been proven in hundreds of other games.  Just as the author
    claims, the game really _is_ logical, in the sense that (in Drew's own
    words) "everything (...) has a logical and understandable purpose
    behind it".  The author clearly knows how to write (i.e. his spelling
    as well as his grammar are quite flawless).  There are even some jokes
    thrown in - rather a lot of them, actually.

    Of course, every silver lining has a cloud within it, and the above
    doesn't quite suffice to make this game as great as the author claims.
    In fact, it doesn't suffice to make it good, or even worth the time it
    takes to download it.

    To start with, the parser is absolutely pathetic - clearly the worst
    parser I've ever seen in a non-freeware game.  It's not only strictly
    limited to two-word sentences, but its vocabulary is extremely limited
    as well. There are no adjectives, which explains the fact that the
    first object you encounter is a "small-stone", that can't be referred
    to as just "stone".  What's even worse is that the parser doesn't
    understand _anything_ that you can't do in the current game state, so,
    for example, if you try to go north in a room where the only exit is
    south, you get the message "I do not understand that. Is that
    logical?" (of course, the latter question must be rhetorical, since it
    can only be answered with a resounding "no").

    Also, the prose being grammatically correct doesn't make it good, or
    even interesting.  Even though the genre is the cheapest kind of space
    opera (complete with icky monsters and blaster-wielding aliens) which
    usually gives lots of opportunities for atmosphere and excitement,
    both these elements are conspicuous only by their absense.  The
    attempts at humour don't improve things; at their best, the jokes
    aren't very funny (and, no, Virginia, telling four variations on the
    same bad joke in the first thirty rooms isn't four times as funny as
    telling it once). At their worst -- well, let me just quote the
    response you get when you try to walk north from the initial location,
    to see what is blocking your way:

    "Trivia question:  Do you know what this is?      8P

    That's the head of a dead astronaut laying on its side with its tongue
    hanging out.  That's what you look like after a really giant, huge,
    icky, nasty-looking monster standing there munched the rest of you!!

    Have a nice day.      ;)     <---that's a wink and a grin!

                          (munch munch munch munch....)  <---- sound effects"

    So for "Another Lifeless Planet And Me With No Beer" - do I have to
    continue?  I'll just conclude by saying that somehow, I wish that this
    game had _not_ been logical; then it might at least have been
    interesting (see my review of "Space Aliens Laughed at my Cardigan" in
    this issue of SPAG), and perhaps good for a laugh, too. Unfortunately,
    it is neither.  Of course, if you happen to like humour like the
    example above, and if you think that good writing, atmosphere and
    logical coherence only distracts you from the puzzles, then this game
    may be worth trying. If not it is best avoided.

    The prospective IF author would probably also do wisely to avoid
    Gamescape, "the ultimate stand-alone adventure writing system", "the
    incredible system that allows you to design and then play adventure
    games", that was used to create "No Beer" (a fact which is almost
    impossible to avoid noticing, since every time one exits the game one
    is treated to two promotional screen pages about Gamescape).  The
    registration fee for Gamescape is $95 + $5 S&H.  Considering that TADS
    is about half that amount, and Inform is free, and even more
    considering the parser and user interface of "No Beer", the
    decision about which system to use should be a simple one indeed.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

      NAME:  Arthur: Quest for Excalibur  PARSER:  Infocom Advanced
      AUTHOR:  Bob Bates                  PLOT:  Very Good
      EMAIL:  ?                           ATMOSPHERE:  Very Good
      AVAILABILITY:  LTOI2-CD             WRITING:  Very Good
      PUZZLES:  Very Good                 SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
      CHARACTERS:  Very Good              DIFFICULTY:  Average

    	In Arthur:  The Quest for Excalibur, Infocom's final text game, you
    play the part of the boy Arthur.  In the space of a few days, you must
    develop the traits necessary to lead England, and challenge Lot, a local
    chieftain, before he is crowned King.
    	The parser is Infocom's best ever, though unfortunately this is the
    only game it was used in.  You can change your viewing mode with the touch of
    a function key.  The bottom half of the screen is like a standard text game,
    but the top changes, depending on your mode.  One mode shows you a graphic of
    your area.  Another gives you an onscreen map, a third shows you your
    character's development, another constantly shows you a description of your
    area, and another gives you a constant report on your inventory.  You can
    change modes without expending a turn.
    	The graphics (in graphics mode) are helpful, but in true text game
    fashion they are not necessary.  No puzzles require recognizing a clue in the
    graphics, and indeed one of the modes, is text-only mode, in which the game
    resembles one of the Infocom classics.
    	While the overall purpose of the game is to do things that will
    develop your personal abilities to the point that you are worthy to rule
    England, the main quest of the game is to acquire certain magical quest items
    that will allow you to get past the Red Knight to where the Lady of the Lake
    lies enchanted (Everything you always wanted on a bier...).  Only with her
    help can you recover Excalibur from where Lot has disposed of it.
    	Early in the game, Merlin will give you the ability to transform
    yourself into a variety of different animals.  Many of the puzzles cannot be
    solved while you are in human form.
    	There are few save/restore puzzles.  Puzzles that you would be
    unlikely to get the first time around generally give you multiple
    opportunities to solve.  There are not many "guess what the author is
    thinking" puzzles, but there are a few.  When you try to read the writing on
    the wall in the ivory tower (for instance), only a burst of inspiration will
    help you along.
    	Like several other Infocom games, Arthur has onscreen hints.
    However, Arthur's have a new twist, in that you are not given the entire clue
    menu at the beginning.  To prevent you from reading them too far ahead, clue
    questions are added to the menu as they become relevant to your current
    situation.  Sometimes, the clue will tell that you cannot solve a specific
    puzzle with the information and resources that you have at hand.
    	Arthur was the ideal Graphic Interactive Fiction game, with graphics
    that helped set the mood and aided gameplay without taking over the game from
    the text part.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

    NAME:  Ballyhoo                            GAMEPLAY:  Infocom
    AUTHOR:  Jeff O'Neill                      PLOT:  Good
    EMAIL:  ?                                  ATMOSPHERE:  Very Good
    AVAILABILITY:  LTOI 1                      WRITING:  Very Good
    PUZZLES:  Well Done                        SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
    CHARACTERS:  Colourful, Distinctive        DIFFICULTY:  Standard

    	In Ballyhoo, you begin as a typical circusgoer.  While wandering
    around, you discover that the daughter of the circus owner, Mr. Munrab
    (Barnum spelled backwards) has been kidnapped.  Anxious for a little glory,
    you decide to look into the crime yourself.  This turns out to be fortunate,
    as the detective Munrab engages turns out to be less than competent
    (surprise).  Your search takes you on a tour through the underside of circus
    life.
    	When I first played Ballyhoo, I strongly disliked it because of a
    technical problem.  I got stuck about 3/4 of the way through.  When I found a
    walkthrough of the game, I solved the problem, but found that I had done
    something wrong earlier and had to restart the game.  When I did so, I found
    that I could not get past a part I had gotten through without trouble
    earlier.  I then postulated a completely false idea of what I must have done
    accidentally the first time, and tried various ways to recreate it.  By this
    time I was ready to throw the game under Monty Python's 16-ton weight.
    	Eventually, I figured out what the problem was.  It wasn't a bug,
    just one of those unfortunate things.  It would not give away any part of the
    game to say that the command "WHIP LION" does not mean the same thing as "HIT
    THE LION WITH THE WHIP".
    	Seemingly this game is plagued with bad luck, as when Activision put
    out The Lost Treasures of Infocom 1, they inadvertently omitted one page of
    the original documentation that gave the frequency for WPDL, an all-classical
    AM radio station (1170 AM by the way).  This information is vital twice; once
    in the middle of the game, and again at the very end.
    	But if you can get past these glitches, you will find quite a nice
    little game.  There are several characters, all well developed.  There are
    everal amusing little responses and sidelights, such as when you try to get
    the mousetrap, when you jump off the top of the cage, and when you are
    standing in line for ice cream.  The game captures the circus feel in much
    the same way that Hollywood Hijinx captures the Hollywood feel.  As an added
    bonus, you get an all text blackjack game in the bargain.
    	Ballyhoo is neither a classic, nor a "must-play", but it is an
    enjoyable game well worth the time you will put into it, if you can avoid the
    little land mines surrounding it.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

      NAME:  Border Zone                GAMEPLAY:  Infocom Standard
      AUTHOR:  Marc Blank               PLOT:  Well Interwoven
      EMAIL:  ?                         ATMOSPHERE:  Good
      AVAILABILITY:  LTOI 2             WRITING:  Serious but Light
      PUZZLES:  Very Good               SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
      CHARACTERS:  Good                 DIFFICULTY:  Slightly above average

    	Border Zone is another compartmentalized game, in the spirit of Nord
    & Bert and Shogun.  Unlike Shogun, the chapters don't have to be played in
    order, and unlike Nord & Bert there is no single concluding chapter that you
    must earn the right to play.
    	Border Zone involves the attempt to prevent an important assasination
    in and around the country of Frobnia.  In Chapter 1, you play an ordinary
    businessman, who has been given a document with the details of the
    assasination, attempting to sneak it out of the country.   In Chapter 2, you
    play the wounded agent who gave the businessman the document, attempting to
    escape from Frobnia himself.  In Chapter 3 you play an American double-agent
    attempting to prevent the assasination without blowing his cover.
    	All three chapters are played in real time.  If you ponder your
    moves too long, the story may go on without you.  This is both good and bad.
    The puzzles are generally the save/restore type; although they are generally
    logical and good, they are not the type that you are likely to hit on the
    first time.  You have to learn from several failures before you hit on the
    correct strategy.  This is fine for puzzle fans, but not so good for realism
    fans (you can't RESTORE in real life).  However, the whole idea of doing the
    game in real time seems to be geared towards pleasing the realism fans,
    though this may not have been the best game to do it.
    	The second chapter is the largest and seems to be the centerpiece of
    the game, but I liked Chapters 1 and 3 better.  Chapter 1 is small and easily
    mapped, but rich in detail, and quickly concluded, making it an excellent
    introduction to interactive fiction.  Chapter 3 has some clever puzzles
    (especially how you figure out which room the sniper is in), and like
    Plundered Hearts, it has several different relatively successful endings, but
    one which is clearly better than the others.  Blank does a good job of tying
    in events from previous chapters, creating an interlocking "big-picture".
    	The game is fairly light on gadgetry; featuring only an exploding pen
    in Chapter 2.  I'd have liked a shoe phone and the Cone of Silence myself.
    Still, this is Infocom's only spy story, and is quite a good game.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Stefan Jokisch"

    NAME: Detective                         PARSER: AGT
    AUTHOR: Matt Barringer                  PLOT: Strictly Linear
    EMAIL: ???                              ATMOSPHERE: None
    AVAILABILITY: Freeware, GMD             WRITING: Poor
    PUZZLES: None                           SUPPORTS: AGT Ports
    CHARACTERS: None                        DIFFICULTY: Very Easy

    	In this game you play a heroic detective who has to find and
    arrest the murderer of the mayor.  Surprisingly, the only commands needed
    to solve 'Detective' are north, east, south, and west.  It is possible to
    pick up a few items along the way in order to increase the score, but none
    of these items has any effect on the story.
    	To cut a long story short, the author made every mistake one can
    think of; it is not necessary to go into detail.  After all, we should
    not forget that Matt wrote this game with good intentions and he offered
    it for free, so who are we to mock at his efforts?  Every computer store
    sells a lot of expensive CD-ROMs which are no better than "Detective".

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Inigo Surguy"

     NAME: Dungeon Adventure                     PARSER: Below Infocom Standard
     AUTHOR: Level 9                             PLOT: Collect the treasure
     EMAIL: ???                                  ATMOSPHERE: Good
     AVAILABILITY: See review                    WRITING: Good
     PUZZLES: Good                               SUPPORTS: PC (+Spectrum,BBC,etc)
     CHARACTERS: Good, but limited               DIFFICULTY: Medium

    	Inspired by the history of Level 9 in SPAG 3, I got out my old BBC B
    (8 bit British computer, ancestor of the Archimedes and RISC PC), and loaded
    Dungeon Adventure. This is a fantasy adventure, set in a similar universe
    to the original Adventure, where you play the typical greedy adventurer
    in search of treasure. This time, you are looting a demon lord's tower
    (after the demon's destruction in Adventure Quest).
    	At the beginning there are a few unfair puzzles, such as the example
    quoted in the Inform manual of carved lions above a doorway, in front of a
    pit ("pride comes before a fall"), but the quality of the puzzles throughout
    the rest of the game is excellent. The game is large enough to occupy anyone
    for some time.
    	Although the characters are not as advanced as those in the better
    Infocom games (Witness, Suspect, etc), they are interesting and numerous,
    including an argumentative sword, a helpful dwarf, two giants, an unhappy
    will-o'-the-wisp and an army of orcs.
    	I would recommend this game to anyone with a Spectrum emulator (or
    even a Spectrum :), and plenty of time.
    	This game was originally available for the 8-bit British computers of
    the eighties, such as the BBC and the Spectrum. According to SPAG 3, it is
    now available for ftp from ftp.ijs.si in the directory /pub/zx/snapshots/a/
    with filename dunadv128k.zip for the graphical version and dunadv48k.zip
    for the plain text. A PC emulator for the Spectrum is in the directory
    /pub/zx/snapshots/z/ and called z80-201.zip. (Please don't email me about
    these; I've only used the BBC version and I haven't tried the emulator).

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Magnus Olsson"

    NAME: John's Fire Witch			PARSER: Excellent
    AUTHOR: John Baker			PLOT: Linear
    EMAIL: baker-j SP@G ix.netcom.com		ATMOSPHERE: Very good, Enchanter-ish
    AVAILABILITY: GMD, S6			WRITING: Very good
    PUZZLES: Standard, with a few nice touches
    					SUPPORTS: TADS
    CHARACTERS: Few, rather simple		DIFFICULTY: Easy

    It's a cold December's day, and you're visiting your old friend John -
    or, rather, you would be visiting him if he were there; but he never
    showed up at the pizza place where you'd agreed to meet, his apartment
    is empty and unlocked, and you've got nothing better to do than spend
    the night on John's living-room floor. The next morning, you wake up to
    find that a terrible blizzard has cut off the house from the rest of the
    world.  When searching the apartment, there's still no sign of John.
    There is, however, a deep, mysterious hole in his basement, a hole which
    turns out to take you straight into the middle of a conflict between
    magical powers...

    This is the starting point of "John's Firewitch", a short (in the
    author's words, "snack-sized") but extremely well-written piece of IF.
    On the surface, this game isn't very remarkable: it's quite simple (it
    took me about three hours to solve), neither the puzzles nor the story
    are very original, the author doesn't seem to have any high-flying
    literary ambitions, and there are no startling new innovations in game
    design.

    Still, this is one of the best - perhaps _the_ best - shareware games
    I've ever played; better, even, than most commercial games.  I'm not
    quite sure I can put my finger on what makes it so good - it's always
    easier to pinpoint what you don't like about something than what you
    like - but "John's Firewitch" is simply very good workmanship; those
    little irritating glitches and mannerisms that seem to be unavoidable in
    non-commercial works are absent; the game is eminently playable (much
    thanks to the excellent parser); the puzzles logical with satisfying
    solutions; the ending forms a satisfying climax; the writing excellent
    and free from mannerisms and bad jokes; everything just feels right.

    The atmosphere and style of the game are very similar to Infocom's
    games, expecially the "Enchanter" trilogy, with the possible exception
    of the beginning which shows a refreshing sense of self-irony (John in
    the game being the author's _alter ego_). It is much smaller than a
    typical Infocom game, though. If "Enchanter" is a novel, then this is a
    short story. This very shortness may be a reason for the game giving
    such a good impression. On the technical side, as one reviewer noted on
    rec.games.int-fiction), the small size of the game saves the author from
    the complexity of large games (which tends to increase very rapidly with
    game size). On the literary side, it's much easier to maintain dramatic
    tension in a short work than in a long one; and this advantage is
    enhanced by the puzzles being easy (but certainly not obvious!), which
    keeps down the playing time.

    This reviewer, being a busy man with too little time to spend on IF, and
    in addition being slightly disturbed by the recent trend towards
    "simulationist" IF (where the authors try to provide a good simulation
    of their literary world, complete with all objects, an attempt which
    will only serve to overwhelm the poor player with useless information)
    would certainly like to see an increase in the number of small but
    well-written games like this. "John's Firewitch" is an excellent example
    to emulate for prospective authors.

    And with authors like John Baker around, why should we mourn the passing
    of Infocom?

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From:

     NAME: The KORC Trilogy                          PARSER: Limited
     AUTHOR: AMF the Doomwatcher                     PLOT: Linear (ish)
     EMAIL: ???                                      ATMOSPHERE: Unique
     AVAILABILITY: Freeware                          WRITING: Brief, Preaching
     PUZZLES: Interesting, Moral                     SUPPORTS: Acorn Archimedes
     CHARACTERS: Weird but Shallow                   DIFFICULTY: Medium-Low

    	It may (or may not) surprise you to learn that the KORC trilogy
    consists of three separate games ("Welcome to the Kingdom of Relative
    Concepts", "Return of the Timebringer", and "The Waking of AMF the
    Doomwatcher"), the plot of all three being centred around one person's quest
    (yours) against corruption in a world moderately similar to ours.
    	Throughout this quest, you meet all manner of weird characters,
    ranging from the author (who descibes himself as a "timid genius" in the
    first two games), to Ergol the pi-reciter (whose life is devoted to reciting
    pi), to an old guy who asks you to kill him.
    	This last character sums up the atmosphere of all three games; the
    author seems to be trying to preach a number of moral points at you.  The
    only problem is that occasionally he has you do something that goes against
    these teachings (like killing somebody).  Whenever this does happen,
    though, the feelings of guilt that consume you (and I'm not being sarcastic
    here) are a testement to how well the author is getting his message across.
    	The characters, for all their weirdness, don't seem to have much
    depth to them - apart from their purpose in the story, they consist only of a
    few "fob off" statements (usually something like "I exist, uncorrupted.
    Is that not enough?").  They certainly aren't as fascinating as the
    characters in Scapeghost, for instance.
    	The user interface is a complete washout.  Rather than multi-tasking
    (as all good adventure games should), the games single-task in Mode 12
    (80 columns by 32 rows, 16 colours, for those non-Archimedes users reading
    this), although the colour scheme is at least bareable.
    	The parser is just plain annoying.  It doesn't understand the normal
    abbreviations for compass directions (N for North, and so on), and doesn't
    even recognise the full compass directions (NORTH, SOUTH, etc).  Only
    commands like GO NORTH will move the player around; this is extremely
    irritating and there is no good reason for it.  To be fair, the movement
    commands are stored on the function keys (so pressing F1 will move you
    north), but this is no excuse.
    	Despite their limitations, I actually found these games very
    enjoyable, especially the third.  It didn't take me long to finish KORC 2 and
    3 (although I did cheat and take a peek at the program code once or twice).
    I personally found KORC 1 the most difficult, and it is probably the largest
    (nothing to do with the presense of a character called Olaf the Fatty!).
    	In the instructions, the author hints that a second KORC trilogy is
    on the drawing board, and I certainly hope that this is true.  Until then,
    the KORC trilogy is free and reasonably addictive.  What more could you want?

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

      NAME:  Leather Goddesses of Phobos  GAMEPLAY:  Infocom Standard
      AUTHOR:  Steve Eric Meretzky        PLOT:  Excellent
      EMAIL:  ?                           ATMOSPHERE:  Excellent
      AVAILABILITY:  Mail Order (maybe)   WRITING:  Excellent
      PUZZLES:  Excellent                 SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
      CHARACTERS:  Very Good              DIFFICULTY:  Advanced

    	In this risque imitation of 1930's pulp fiction, you are captured by
    the Leather Goddesses of Phobos.  For some reason, you escape, and with your
    trusted companion Trent/Tiffany, you tour the Solar System searching for a
    collection of incongruous objects, which when put together will form a
    super-duper-anti-Leather-Goddesses-of-Phobos-attack-machine.
    	The game begins by patting itself on the back for the outraged
    reactions that it will likely induce in old fuddy-duddies, though truth be
    told it is not much dirtier than your average beer commercial (though it is
    much more clever).  The game has three naughtiness modes for dealing with sex
    scenes:

         TAME - No sex scenes
         SUGGESTIVE - You're told that the scene is happening, but no more
         LEWD - Level of description about equal to a Harlequin novel

    	In addition, Lewd mode has one or two 4-letter words, seemingly
    thrown in out of some sense of obligation, as they don't mesh very well with
    Meretzky's humour at all.
    	The game wonderfully recreates the feel of 30's pulp fiction, from
    the swordfight on the hull of the Space Battleship (without spacesuits,
    naturally), to the Sultan and other colourful characters you meet on Mars, to
    the delightfully contrived situation at the South Pole, to the marvelous
    running gag concerning the lucky escapes of your faithful companion.  The
    final scene where you try to assemble your machine while under attack by all
    of the Leather Goddesses minions is one of the greatest moments in
    interactive fiction, and one that would be utterly impossible to reproduce
    with graphics.
    	I generally enjoy games like Spellbreaker that spread the action over
    a wide area, and Leather Goddesses has one of the widest areas of all, with
    the action ranging between Venus, Mars, Phobos, Earth, and Saturn orbit.
    	Leather Goddesses has some of the best freebies of any Infocom game,
    including a 3-D comic book, 3-D glasses, and a scratch and sniff card.  It
    was one of the five games made into a Solid Gold edition.  The Solid Gold
    edition contains not only onscreen hints, but the ability to get through the
    difficult catacombs maze with a single special command.  The game also allows
    you to play as either a male or a female, depending on which restroom you
    enter at the beginning.
    	Some early editions of the game had a Lost in the Desert maze in
    place of the Martian Desert room.  I have only heard of this edition, not
    seen it, and if anyone has a copy, I'd love to see it.  The non-Solid Gold
    editions of the game had a "Boss key", whereby you could bring a specially
    created text file onscreen by hitting Control-B.  The file included with the
    game was a sample screen of Infocom's Cornerstone database, the easy-to-use
    productivity software that almost [Well, did.  Let's be honest. -GKW]
    bankrupted the company.  Later Infocom games that used the same interpreter
    also had the Boss key feature, though it was never mentioned.
    	A sequel is promised at the end of the game.  This was released as
    a graphic adventure in 1992 by Activision/Infocom, but this is already out of
    print, and probably getting difficult to find.  LGOP2 promised yet a third
    installment, but there is no word on this.
    	All in all, Leather Goddesses of Phobos is one of Infocom's best
    efforts.

    	[A few brief notes.  MINOR SPOILER, beware!  That boss key screen is
    a real chuckle, and if you have the version with it, definitely read it over
    once, just for yucks.  Here's the scoop on avoiding the catacombs.  As soon
    as you descend into them, type $CATACOMB.  If it works in your version, you
    will have skipped past one of the most insidious and evil puzzles in all of
    Infocom-dom.]

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: Adam Justin Thornton

     NAME: The Multi-Dimensional Thief      PARSER: AGT 1.5
     AUTHOR: Joel Finch                     PLOT: Crappy, on the whole
     EMAIL: ???                             ATMOSPHERE: Not bad
     AVAILABILITY: GMD, F                   WRITING: Kind of cute
     PUZZLES: ______                        SUPPORTS: AGT ports
     CHARACTERS: Cardboard Cutout           DIFFICULTY: ______

    	The plot seems pretty standard.  You want to be in the Thieves'
    Guild.  So you're tossed in a dungeon and have to escape, as your bizzarro
    frat hazing ritual.
    	There are early on bits stolen from "The Wizard of Oz" and "Robin
    Hood".  I don't really know what else is here.  The game didn't keep me
    interested long enough.  It looks like it's supposed to be just a bunch of
    puzzles strung together.  The portable hole is kind of neat.
    	I imagine if I were really bored and had a few hours it'd be an
    entertaining diversion.  It's not bad.  The atmosphere is cute; the responses
    are often somewhat amusing, if cliched and predictable.
    	The parser is pretty atrocious.  Actually it's standard AGT fare, and
    in 1991 probably wasn't that bad.  Now that we have TADS and Inform, its
    limitations are both obvious and annoying.
    	If you're really bored, give it a shot.  If not, play Curses instead.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

      NAME:  Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It
                                          GAMEPLAY:  Infocom Standard
      AUTHOR:  Jeff O'Neill               PLOT:  Very Good
      EMAIL:  ?                           ATMOSPHERE:  Excellent
      AVAILABILITY:  LTOI 2               WRITING:  Excellent
      PUZZLES:  Very Good                 SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
      CHARACTERS:  Very Good              DIFFICULTY:  Standard

    	Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It is a collection of
    interactive short stories, all revolving around the common theme of restoring
    the town of Punster, and based on the idea that you can alter the nature of
    reality merely by engaging in wordplay with it.
    	The concept is difficult to explain, so some examples from the game's
    sample transcript may illustrate it without giving away any of the actual
    story.  You wake up, knocking over your alarm clock and a glass of water.
    The only way to avoid the debris is to get up on the wrong side of the bed.
    Asked to mail your father's tax return, you discover you can't find it.  But
    that scruffy guy in the corner with the IRS tee shirt, who you're told is
    barely male can be transmogrified with the homonym "mail". The return isn't
    stamped?  You can fix that by Spoonerizing your father's stone lamp into a
    lone stamp.  And so on.
    	To prevent this from becoming incredibly confusing, each short story
    deals with only one specific type of wordplay.  The stories can be played in
    any order, except for Meet the Mayor, which must come last.
    	The parser is a bit better than the usual Infocom one.  Compass
    directions and mapping are dispensed with entirely, as the Status Line
    constantly lists all the areas that you can travel directly to.  As the maps
    are generally small (one story has only two locations), the map can be easily
    internalized in the player's mind.
    	The puzzles are not the very best.  The nature of such a game means
    that many of the puzzles will be of the "guess what the author is thinking"
    type.  Also, since the puzzles don't necessarily build on each other, but
    often stand separately, you may finish a story only to be told that there
    were more things you could have done, and be forced to return later.
    However, since ALL versions of Nord & Bert have on-screen hints, there is no
    chance of getting permanently stuck.
    	The real strength of the game is in it's Writing and Atmosphere.  The
    mood created is delightfully surreal, and the constant clever descriptions
    and responses make this one of the best "reading" text games ever produced.
    Text game players like to argue that well-written text produces more
    evocative images than graphic games do.  Nord and Bert goes beyond this, not
    merely doing things BETTER than a graphics game could, but doing things that
    a graphics game could never do at all.  Definitely one of Infocom's most
    underrated classics.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

      NAME:  Planetfall                   GAMEPLAY:  Infocom Standard
      AUTHOR:  Steve Eric Meretzky        PLOT:  Excellent
      EMAIL:  ?                           ATMOSPHERE:  Excellent
      AVAILABILITY:  LTOI 1, Zork Anth.   WRITING:  Excellent
      PUZZLES:                     SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
      CHARACTERS: Excellent               DIFFICULTY:

    	n Planetfall, you start as a deck scrubber on a starship in the far
    future.  When your ship is destroyed, your escape pod deposits you in a
    deserted high-tech building complex on an alien world.  With the help of your
    faithful robot companion B-19-7 (aka Floyd), you must discover what happened
    to the people, and correct various problems before your time runs out.
    	Planetfall was the first Infocom game I played, and still my
    favourite.  Often billed as a science-fiction comedy, it really is not.
    There are many amusing sidelights and funny responses from the author to your
    failed actions, (one of my favourites is when you are looking at the planets
    computer datafiles, and come across an Infocom catalog.  When you read the
    description for Zork, Floyd looking over your shoulder tells you that he
    played that game and solved all the puzzles...except for how to get into that
    little white house) but it is not at all a straight comedy in the same sense
    that Leather Goddesses of Phobos, or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    would be.  It merely feels like one because the game is constantly charming
    you in one way or another.  Floyd, generally remembered as Infocom's best NPC
    is useful for only three things in the game, but provides you with a constant
    stream of amusing banter, from relating tales of the time he helped someone
    find a lost paper clip, to passing along the latest hot gossip about Dr.
    Fizpick.
    	Oftentimes text games fall into the syndrome of providing one and
    only one use for each item in the game, so that if you have found a use for
    an item you can throw it away, confident that it will not be called for
    again.  Not so in Planetfall (and Meretzky games in general).  Several items
    have more than one use, while others have no use at all.
    	Planetfall's original edition contained Infocom's usual batch of
    interesting freebies (I still keep the Stellar Patrol ID card in my wallet
    mixed in with the credit cards).  However, it was also one of the games
    selected to be redone as a Solid Gold edition with onscreen hints.  Get both
    editions if possible.
    	The IBM version of Lost Treasures of Infocom 1 contained an original
    version of the program.  The Macintosh version of LTOI 1 contains the Solid
    Gold Edition.  PC users who have Macintosh-using friends can of course try to
    get a copy of the datafile from the LTOI1-Mac version, and run it off an IBM
    interpreter.
    	Planetfall was one of the games selected for novelization when Avon
    Books put out a series of Infocom Books several years ago.  The novel version
    of Planetfall is really a sequel to Planetfall (and Stationfall).  This book
    (not written by Meretzky) was much closer to the Battletech universe than
    Planetfall's, and was loaded with tiresome, sophomoric, un-clever humour.  I
    read most of the other Avon Infocom books in a day or so each, but Planetfall
    took almost a month to force myself through.
    	On the brighter side though, another Planetfall sequel is the next
    game that Activision plans to release under the Infocom label.  The game, to
    be called "Planetfall 2:  The Search for Floyd", is sheduled for release late
    in 1995.  As a prelude to this, they included the original (non-Solid Gold)
    Planetfall game in their recently released Zork Anthology.
    	Still, Planetfall remains not only my favourite text game, but my
    favourite adventure game.

    	[Well, we've all got our fingers crossed hoping that Activision
    doesn't fumble this game as badly as they did Return to Zork.  But I'm giving
    public notice, if Floyd looks like either R2D2 or a garbage can, the fur will
    fly.]

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

      NAME:  Plundered Hearts                PARSER:  Infocom
      AUTHOR:  Amy Briggs                    PLOT:  Good
      EMAIL:  ?                              ATMOSPHERE:  Very Good
      AVAILABILITY:  LTOI-2                  WRITING:  Good
      PUZZLES:  Not bad                      SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
      CHARACTERS:  Not bad                   DIFFICULTY:  On the Easy Side

    	Plundered Hearts is a romance novel set in the 1600's.  You must
    rescue your father from the clutches of an evil island governor with the aid
    of a pirate captain who lights your fire.
    	Plundered Hearts takes a rather standard plotline and uses it to
    very good effect.  The writing feels very much like a Harlequin novel, with
    enough amusing puzzles and clever responses to keep me, a
    non-romance-novel-reader interested to the end.
    	The puzzles are a little easier than the standard Infocom fare, but
    generally interesting ones that can be reasoned or inferred.  There are few
    "guess what the author is thinking puzzles".
    	The game's strongest point though is in its characterization.  Not
    in the other characters; Crulley, Jamison, Lafonde and the others are rather
    standard, thus my character rating of 1.2.  Rather, this game characterizes
    you, the player, more than any other of Infocom's offerings.
    	In most Infocom games, who YOU are is either unimportant or doesn't
    affect the plot much.  In Zork, you're just some anonymous guy who was
    walking by the white house.  You have no particular personality, or history
    before this point.  Planetfall makes an effort to paint your character with
    the enclosed diary, but it is all chrome.  None of it really affects the
    story once you're in it.  As a result, I always sort of imagined myself as
    the main character.  To some extent this was Infocom's intention; much of
    their early advertising talked about imagining yourself waking up inside a
    story.
    	Plundered Hearts, more than any other game gave me the feeling of
    really being inside someone ELSE'S head.  Throughout the game, who you are
    plays an important part.  Disguising your identity and altering your
    appearance is important in several places to elicit a desired reaction from
    other characters (not to mention avoiding some undesired reactions).  As a
    result, the game scores very well in "intangibles", thus my high Wildcard
    rating.
         Plundered Hearts is one of Infocom's more underrated games.  A very good
    blend of puzzle solving and story.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

    NAME:  Seastalker:  [Your Name] and the Ultramarine Bioceptor
    				     GAMEPLAY:  Infocom Standard
    AUTHORS:  Stu Galley & Jim Lawrence  PLOT:  Routine
    EMAIL:  ?                            ATMOSPHERE:  Good
    AVAILABILITY:  LTOI 2                WRITING:  Passable
    PUZZLES:  Good                       SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
    CHARACTERS:  Good                    DIFFICULTY:  Very Short and Easy

    	In Seastalker, Infocom's only adventure designed for children, you
    play the part of...yourself, a brilliant young scientist who has designed a
    two-man submarine.  Before it is completely ready, your aquadome is attacked
    by a mysterious sea creature, forcing you to rush to the rescue, encountering
    danger without and treachery within.
    	Obviously, ratings for such a children's game reviewed by an adult
    will be somewhat skewed, though I tried to compensate for this in Wildcard
    Points.
    	One of the authors has ghostwritten books for the Hardy Boys, Nancy
    Drew, and Tom Swift series, and the writing style carries over very well.
    The game has the same oh-my-gosh-golly sense of adventure that those books
    have.  This is not a criticism, I read and enjoyed the Hardy Boys as a child,
    but it has a mixed effect on the ratings, causing the atmosphere rating to go
    up a bit, but the plot rating to go correspondingly down, as I had read so
    many of these books that the plot seemed rather routine and predictable.
    	The game scored well in the wildcard category, because I thought that
    it was very innovative in three ways.
    	First, it allowed you to give the main character your own name, or
    any other name that you chose (this was later used in Moonmist, also by the
    same authors, but in no other Infocom games).
    	Secondly, unlike other text games, items in a room are not
    necessarily visible when you walk in the room, even if they are out in the
    open.  In one room, there is a pile of miscellaneous equipment that contains
    something you need.  You are not told that the item is there, and searching
    the pile will not help unless you tell the game exactly what it is that
    you're looking for (If you have your documentation, you should be able to
    figure this out).
    	Third, the system used for piloting your submarine, gives you an
    ASCII readout of your radar screen, similar to the sector maps in those old
    Star Trek games (periods for empty sectors, a special character for your
    ship, and so on).
    	There was however, one feature that I didn't like.  Seastalker's
    documentation comes with maps of both building complexes, and the
    neighbouring harbour (not the box-and-line graph paper maps that the players
    would make, but floor plans).  This is fine in itself, but many times, the
    description of a room in the game would not tell you where the exits are.
    If you have the documentation you can figure it out of course, and perhaps
    this was meant as a form of copy protection, but it was still rather
    annoying, as it meant that you had to keep the docs right by your side at all
    times.
    	I did come up with a little joke to counterbalance this.  Remembering
    the stereotype of the child genius who can design moon rockets, but can't
    pronounce his S's correctly, and noting that the title of the game, and the
    name of your submarine had three "S" sounds between them (Seastalker,
    Scimitar), I decided to play with a main character named Thuthie Thmith.
    	All children's software today seems to be designed for the preschool
    through kindergarten age group.  The rest is for adults.  Seastalker, like
    The Hardy Boys, is for ages 8-14, and even 10 years later it remains about
    the only game specially geared towards them.  Since the purpose of children's
    software is always to educate as well as entertain, an all-text adventure
    seems especially appropriate.  It's only a pity that there aren't more.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

      NAME:  Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels
                                            PARSER:  Infocom
      AUTHOR:  Bob Bates                    PLOT:  Very Good
      EMAIL:  ?                             ATMOSPHERE:  Excellent
      AVAILABILITY:  LTOI-2                 WRITING:  Excellent
      PUZZLES:  Very good.                  SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
      CHARACTERS:  Quite good.              DIFFICULTY:  Standard

    	In Sherlock:  The Riddle of the Crown Jewels, you play the part of
    Dr. Watson.  Moriarty has stolen Victoria's regalia, leaving a trail of clues
    to follow, and Holmes must recover them before the weekend is out.  Fearing
    that Moriarty would anticipate his own moves and trap him, Holmes puts the
    case in your hands to throw Moriarty off the trail.
    	Having read all the Conan Doyle Holmes stories, I found Sherlock a
    positive delight to play.  Both Doyle's writing style, and the atmosphere of
    19th century London are approximated extremely well.  Unlike Infocom's
    earlier mysteries which took place in one house, Sherlock's action takes you
    all over London.  Numerous little bits of Holmesian minutia flesh out the
    game.  The humour is appropriately wry without resorting to the usual
    Infocom style of silliness that would not work nearly as well here as in
    other games.
    	Sherlock is remarkably free of save/restore puzzles (i.e. ones that
    require death or failure to acquire information that can be used after you
    restore the game.  You are usually given multiple opportunities to solve ones
    that you probably wouldn't get the first time around.
    	The only place where Sherlock suffers is in its "intangibles".  The
    concept of the villain laying down a trail to follow is more reminiscent of
    Batman's Riddler than Professor Moriarty.  Also, the idea of Holmes turning
    such a vital case over to a tyro, stretches the imagination a bit, despite
    the fact that he personally oversees your activities.  The game also suffers
    a bit from the "Zork Syndrome", where you as the adventurer go wherever you
    want and take whatever isn't nailed down.  In the course of the game you must
    take or deface items from Scotland yard, Madame Tussaud's, and the Tower of
    London, with little consequence or resistance.  In e-mail correspondence, Bob
    Bates told me that he was aware of this problem when writing the game, and
    sought to minimize it as much as possible.  To a large extent he succeeded,
    but there is a little residual weakness.  Finally, it must be remembered that
    Moriarty died in the same story that he was introduced (The Adventure of the
    Final Problem), and that at that point Watson had never heard of him.
    	Therefore there is a difficulty in going back and doing a story where
    he and Watson meet.  To be fair though, Conan Doyle himself made the same
    cheat in The Valley of Fear, as did almost all of the movies.
    	Despite these nits, the game's strong points almost completely
    overwhelm them, and Sherlock, Infocom's final all-text game, ranks as one of
    their very best.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Preston Landers"

     NAME: Shogun                                    PARSER: Infocom Graphic
     AUTHOR: Infocom                                 PLOT: Linear
     EMAIL: ???                                      ATMOSPHERE: Very Well Done
     AVAILABILITY: LTOI 2 ??                         WRITING: Very Good
     PUZZLES: Fair                                   SUPPORTS: Infocom Ports
     CHARACTERS: Very Good                           DIFFICULTY: Hard

    I forgot that I had a copy of one of Infocom's last releases, Shogun, laying
    around over Christmas break.  So when I found it, I decided to tackle it
    because the novel it was based on, James Clavell's SHOGUN, is one of my
    favorites.  The parser is Infocom's last, the Graphic style similar to Zork
    Zero.  There is one graphic puzzle (that can be solved "non-graphicly" if
    you must.)  There are many beautiful illustrations in the style of Japanese
    17th century paintings.

    The game itself is extremely linear.  If this really turns you off, you
    won't like the game.  You go through a number of "episodes" or scenes, very
    closely based on the book.  Honestly, I don't think I could have won the
    game if I had not read the original novel (or used the built-in hints
    extensively.)  For instance, you must know where to go and what do to almost
    by magic.  If you haven't read the book, or you don't plan on using the
    hints, then you might not enjoy this game.  Those caveats aside, it WAS a
    very enjoyable game.  It was done by Dave Lebling (I believe.)

    The story, in case you haven't seen the mini-series or read the book, casts
    you as John Blackthorne, a 17th century English pilot, sailing a Dutch ship
    towards the fabled Japans.  The game goes quite a bit into the political
    intrigue between the various feuding Daiymos (Japanese kings.)  Ultimately,
    you must become a samurai and help your Daiymo become Shogun, or Supreme
    Ruler.  There are a few sub-plots, such as your love interest with the
    beautiful courtier Mariko (how many games do you get to type 'MAKE LOVE TO
    MARIKO' to score 5 points?) but overall, the game flies from one episode to
    the next in a very fast-paced, and overall, enjoyable game.

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

         In SHOGUN, you play the role John Blackthorne, an English seaman in
    1600, working for the Dutch to open up a trade route to Japan.  Based
    upon the book of the same name, the story involves your attempts to
    learn Japanese native customs while caught in the middle of the power
    struggles between Toranaga, and Ishido, two local warlords.
         The writing is much grittier than in any other Infocom game; from
    the cockroaches swarming over your cabin floor to the frequent violent
    killings to the occasional nude bathing scene.  Shogun was the only
    Infocom game ever to carry a warning label on the box.  If it were a
    movie, it would probably be a PG-13.
         Shogun is also the first of Infocom's three Graphic Interactive
    Fiction games.  Unlike the other two however, there is no interaction
    between text and graphics (except the automap in the maze in Chapter
    10), and graphics simply pop up at certain times.  Ordinarily in a game
    like this, the cartoon-like graphics would positively destroy the
    atmosphere, but in a historical novel they resemble what you might see
    in an ancient manuscript, and thus add to the atmosphere.
         One weakness of the game is in compartmentalization.  Rather than
    one large game, it is divided into 18 separate chapters.  It is rather
    like Nord and Bert, except that there are more chapters, and they must
    be played in a specific order.  This does not work as well here as it
    does in Nord and Bert.
    Your point total is the only thing that carries over to the next
    chapter; the items in your inventory are pre-determined.  Admittedly,
    this is probably the only way to adapt such a novel to game form, but
    the effect is still not entirely satisfactory.  Many text games end up
    being all puzzles and no story.  Shogun is exactly the opposite.  Too
    often the story just seems to go on around you while you get
    meaningless points for smiling, nodding, or bowing at the right times.
    The result is rather too many "guess what the author is thinking" type
    puzzles, rather than puzzles that can be reasoned out.
         Two exceptions to this are Chapter 1 (The Erasmus), and Chapter 16
    (The Ninja).  Both are outstanding blendings of story and puzzle
    solving, and rank with Infocom's best moments.
         One nice feature is that the game asks if you want to save at the
    end of each chapter.  I keep a save file for each chapter on a scratch
    disk, so that I can enter the story at any point if I ever feel like
    pulling the game off the shelf.  Shogun is a very good game to read,
    though a bit less satisfying to play.  Overall though, a fine effort.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Magnus Olsson"

    NAME: Space Aliens Laughed at my Cardigan
    					PARSER: AGT
    AUTHOR: Andre M. Boyle			PLOT: Confusing
    EMAIL: ???				ATMOSPHERE: Utterly demented
    AVAILABILITY: GMD, S60 (voluntary)	WRITING: Abysmally bad
    PUZZLES: Incomprehensible		SUPPORTS: AGT
    CHARACTERS: Weird			DIFFICULTY: Totally unplayable

    Initially, it was the title that drew my attention to this game.  I
    didn't download it, however, until I saw the review by Sean Molley
    (a.k.a. Molley the Mage) in SPAG3 - I wanted to see for myself if it
    really was possible to have a game as bad as his review indicated.
    What I found exceeded my wildest expectations.

    This game is not just bad, but unspeakably so, and it's uniformly bad;
    the writing, the puzzles, the atmosphere, the plot, the NPCs, the
    room descriptions, the attempts at humour are all miserable. If there
    was an award for the world's worst adventure game, this game would be
    an obvious candidate.  In addition, this game must be the most
    bug-infested piece of software it's ever been my misfortune to try; it
    actually seems as if the author hasn't even tried playing his own game
    once, or he would have found the bugs immediately.

    You may wonder why I bother to write this review if I'm only going to
    tell how bad it is, which Sean did an excellent job of saying in his
    review. Well, I think Sean missed an important feature of this game:
    its cult value.

    In fact, every aspect of this game makes for a truly unique
    experience: the total lack of logic, the weird malapropisms triggered
    by some player actions, the utterly bewildering atmosphere, the
    author's inexplicable hatred for policemen (try examining the
    "policeman standing here like a total and utter prune" sometime), the
    demented dialogue produced by your interaction with some NPCs, the
    attempts at humour (including some utter failures at imitating Douglas
    Adams), just to name a few examples.  A great source of unconscious
    humour is the author's weird, fractured English (it's hard to believe that
    he actually lives in the U.K.), that switches freely between
    tenses, persons, even gender (human NPCs are referred to as "it") and
    spellings.

    Playing (or trying to play) this game is sure to create a lasting
    impression. It is not to be recommended for the weak of heart or those
    incapable of appreciating the beauty of absurdity, but if you'd like
    to experience Infocom on acid, as it were, you should by all means try
    it out.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Graeme Cree" <72630.304 SP@G compuserve.com>

    NAME:  Suspect                      GAMEPLAY:  Infocom Standard
    AUTHOR:  Dave Lebling               PLOT:  Good
    EMAIL:  ?                           ATMOSPHERE:  Not Bad
    AVAILABILITY:  LTOI 1               WRITING:  Not Bad
    PUZZLES:  Very Good                 SUPPORTS:  Infocom Ports
    CHARACTERS:  Very Good              DIFFICULTY:  Advanced

    	In Suspect, you start as a reporter covering Veronica Ashcroft's
    halloween party.  When she is murdered in a back room, with some of your
    personal possessions found at the scene of the crime, you are the prime
    suspect (hence the name!), and you've got 12 hours to find the real killer.
    	Suspect may be a victim of ratings inflation.  My numbers for it
    totalled 5.8, and assuming that 5.0 means an average game, this still
    indicates a pretty good effort.  However, it seems to be especially low for
    an Infocom game, though I didn't dislike it by any means.
    	The puzzles are generally well done, but it suffers from a lack of
    vividness, and a lack of feeling that you're really there.  This problem
    afflicted some of Infocom's earlier efforts (except Planetfall which was
    extremely well written, and Suspended, where you really aren't there!), and
    their early mysteries in particular.  One problem might be that in several of
    the early Infocom games, there seemed to be a set of stock responses to
    various commands that stayed the same from game to game, while later on they
    began to tailor them from game to game.  For example, in many early Infocom
    games, if you try to enter something that you can't, you're told simply "You
    hit your head on the [NOUN] as you attempt this."
    	Also, Infocom's early mysteries, which took place in a single private
    residence seemed to lack the sense of exploration and discovery that one
    comes to expect in an Infocom offering.  This is of course purely a matter of
    taste, and may not be experienced by a different player at all.
    	All in all though, Suspect remains a very solid effort, and well
    worth a play through.

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Stefan Jokisch"

    NAME: Tossed Into Space                 PARSER: AGT
    AUTHOR: Graeme Cree                     PLOT: Non Linear
    EMAIL: ???                              ATMOSPHERE: Not Bad
    AVAILABILITY: Freeware, GMD             WRITING: Not Bad
    PUZZLES: Simple                         SUPPORTS: AGT Ports
    CHARACTERS: Simple                      DIFFICULTY: Very Easy

    	"Tossed Into Space" tells a slightly weird science fiction story:
    You are Dr. Schmidt, a saboteur who is trapped on the new colony of Alpha
    Centauri.  Since the colonists (the Rob-&-Son family) refused to take you
    home to earth, you have waited for an opportunity to steal their space-
    ship "Jupiter 8".  Finally, your time has come: The Rob-&-Son family is
    not at home and the Jupiter is only guarded by a robot.  You have to get
    rid of the robot, refuel the ship, set the course data and lift off.
    	Apparently, "Tossed Into Space" was written for beginners; the
    game is very short, simple and easy.  All the player has to do is to
    perform the most basic exercises of text adventuring: bringing light to
    a dark room, wearing appropriate clothes in a cold place or unlocking an
    object with a key.  Experienced players will solve 'Tossed Into Space'
    within an hour or less.  In fact, this game is so short that I cannot say
    more without spoiling the entire game.
    	Nevertheless, playing "Tossed Into Space" was fun.  The story is
    amusing and the writing is all right as long as you don't mind a few
    spelling mistakes.  The (AGT) parser is not comfortable, but satisfying.
    'Tossed Into Space' is worth taking a look at, if you don't expect too much.

    	[By the way, if you haven't guessed it yet, this game is a total
    Lost in Space parody, but then, you knew that, right?]

    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    From: "Magnus Olsson"

    NAME: World				PARSER: Limited
    AUTHOR: Doug Mcdonald			PLOT: Simple but non-linear
    EMAIL: ???				ATMOSPHERE: Superb
    AVAILABILITY: GMD, F			WRITING: Very good
    PUZZLES: Fairly standard, much treasure-hunting and exploration
    SUPPORTS: Unix, DOS, VMS, etc (C source included)
    CHARACTERS: Few, simple			DIFFICULTY: Below average

    Five and a half years ago, when I first got full access to the
    Internet, one of the first things I did was to look for FTP sites with
    interesting software. Finding the Usenet source archives on uunet was
    marvellous; finding the source to a large adventure game there
    was even more exciting. I downloaded the game, tried it on my Unix
    workstation, and liked it so much that I brought it home and compiled
    it on my PC at home. The game was called "World" and was _huge_; due
    to its sheer size, I never completed it (I got stuck about 75%
    through, put it aside for a few days, and never got about to complete
    it), but it made a lasting impression. When writing these reviews for
    SPAG, I couldn't resist the impulse to dust off my old copy of "World"
    to see if it's lost any of its attraction over the years; to my joy,
    it hadn't.

    "World" is a game in the tradition of the old mainframe adventures
    like Colossal Cave and Zork/Dungeon. This means that it's a big game
    (several hundred locations), with a heavy emphasis on treasure-hunting
    and exploration. Unlike those games, however, the author has managed
    to create a much more coherent world - which doesn't stop it from also
    being a world that is very varied and offers a lot of surprises.

    The story is simple: you, being a lowly latrine orderly on a starship
    that's just landed on an alien planet, have volunteered to explore it
    on foot. By collecting alien artifacts and specimens of interesting
    wildlife, you hope to earn a (long overdue) promotion. The planet soon
    turns out to have quite a few surprises in store for you...

    While the plot may not be that great, what makes this game memorable
    is the outstanding atmosphere. Somehow, the author manages to make a
    world which is quite improbable when you think about it, and which is
    filled with quite a few of the cliches of Sci-Fi, seem very
    convincing. You not only get the feeling that "you're there", you experience
    that elusive feeling that is the very essence of science fiction - the
    sense of wonder.

    The writing is very good, with lots of long, very graphic descriptions
    of a weird and wonderful, alien world. The mainframe tradition is
    noticeable in that the author doesn't shy away from using long
    descriptions - fortunately without falling into the trap of excessive
    verbosity or overuse of purple prose.

    Unfortunately, the parser and vocabulary aren't quite up to the
    standard of the writing, reducing playability and leading to a few
    "guess the verb" situations. Still, it's not worse than your typical
    AGT parser, and since most puzzles don't require any advanced
    manipulation of objects you can get along quite well. Also, some
    slight misses (which would surely have been found by more extensive
    playtesting) detract somewhat from the overall impression.

    As an adventure _game_, "World" isn't very remarkable; it does stand
    out, however, in the way its author manages to give credibility,
    texture and atmosphere to a totally alien world.

    READER'S SCOREBOARD----------------------------------------------------------

       Notes:

    	A   - Runs on Amigas.
    	AP  - Runs on Apple IIs.
    	GS  - Runs on Apple IIGS.
    	AR  - Runs on Archimedes Acorns.
    	C   - Commercial, no fixed price.
    	C30 - Commercial, with a fixed price of $30.
    	F   - Freeware.
    	GMD - Available on ftp.gmd.de
    	I   - Runs on IBM compatibles.
    	M   - Runs on Macs.
    	S20 - Shareware, registration costs $20.
    	64  - Runs on Commodore 64s.
    	TAD - Written with TADS.  This means it can run on:
                    AmigaDOS, NeXT and PC, Atari ST/TT/Falcon, DECstation
                    (MIPS) Unix Patchlevel 1 and 2, IBM, IBM RT, Linux, Apple
                    Macintosh, SGI Iris/Indigo running Irix, Sun 4 (Sparc)
                    running SunOS or Solaris 2, Sun 3, OS/2, and even a 386+
                    protected mode version.
            AGT - Available for IBM, Mac, Amiga, and Atari ST.  This does not
                    include games made with the Master's edition.
    	ADVSYS - Available for PC and Macintosh only, or so my sources tell
                     me.
            INF - Infocom or Inform game.  These games will run on:
                    Atari ST, Amiga, Apple Macintosh, IBM, Unix, VMS, Apple II,
                    Apple IIGS, C64, TSR-80, and Archimedes Acorn.  There may be
                    other computers on which it runs as well.

    Disclaimer: These scores have been compiled since issue 1 of SPAG, and as
      such, might not be totally accurate.  However, they are as close to the
      readers' opinions as I can make them.  Heh, I always wanted to say that.

     Name		       Avg Sc  Chr  Puz  # Sc  Rlvt Ish       Notes:
     ====                  ======  ===  ===  ====  ========       ======
    Another...No Beer	2.5    0.1  1.0    1     4      S10_IBM_GMD
    Arthur: Excalibur	8.6    1.8  1.7    1     4	C_INF
    Ballyhoo		7.0    1.8  1.6    2	 4	C_INF
    Beyond Zork		7.4		   1	 x	C_INF
    Border Zone		6.1    1.1  1.4    2	 4	C_INF
    Bureaucracy		7.8		   1	 x	C_INF
    Curses			8.4    1.3  1.7    5     2	F_INF
    Cutthroats		6.3    1.4  1.2    4	 1	C_INF
    Crypt v2.0		N/A		   0     3	S12_IBM_GMD
    Deadline		7.2		   2	 x	C_INF
    Deep Space Drifter	5.5	    1.4    1     3      S15_TAD_GMD
    Detective		1.0    0.6  0.2    1     4      F_AGT_GMD
    Ditch Day Drifter	7.1    1.2  1.6	   1     2      F_TAD_GMD
    Dungeon Adventure	6.8    1.3  1.6    1     4	F_SEE REVIEW
    Dungeon of Dunjin       7.0    1.0  1.5    1     3      S20_IBM_MAC_GMD
    Enchanter		7.0    0.8  1.3	   4     2	C_INF
    Enhanced		N/A		   0	 2      S10_TAD_GMD
    Great Archaelog. Race	6.5    1.0  1.5    1     3      S20_TAD_GMD
    Hitchhiker's Guide	8.0     	   3     x	C_INF
    Hollywood Hijinx	5.5		   2	 x	C_INF
    Horror30.Zip		N/A		   0	 3	S20_IBM_GMD
    Horror of Rylvania	7.7		   1     1	C20_TAD_GMD (Demo)
    Humbug			7.4		   1	 x	S10_GMD (Uncertain)
    Infidel 		6.9		   5     1-2	C_INF
    Jacaranda Jim		7.0		   1	 x	S10_GMD (Uncertain)
    John's Fire Witch	8.5    1.2  1.5    1     4	S6_TADS_GMD
    Klaustrophobia		7.8    1.2  1.4    2     1	S15_AGT_GMD
    Leather Goddesses	8.0    1.6  1.7    3	 4	C_INF
    Lurking Horror, The	6.9    1.4  1.2    4     1,3	C_INF
    Magic.Zip		4.5    0.5  0.5    1     3      S20_IBM_GMD
    Mind Forever Voyaging	8.4    1.4   -     2	 x	C_INF
    Moonmist		5.8	           4     1	C_INF
    Mop & Murder		4.9    0.5  1.0    1	 4	F_AGT_GMD
    Multidimen. Thief	5.3    0.4  1.0    2     2      S?/F_AGT_GMD
    Nord and Bert		3.9		   2	 4	C_INF
    One Hand Clapping	6.8    1.0  1.5    1     x	F_ADVSYS_GMD
    Planetfall		7.1		   3	 4	C_INF
    Plundered Hearts 	7.9    1.2  1.2    1	 4	C_INF
    Sanity Claus		9.0	           1     1	S10_AGT_GMD
    Save Princeton		5.6		   1	 x	S10_TAD_GMD
    Seastalker		5.4		   2	 4	C_INF
    Shades of Grey		7.8    1.2  1.5    2	 1-2	F_AGT_GMD
    Sherlock		8.5    1.5  1.8    1	 4	C_INF
    Shogun			7.1    1.5  0.5    1     4      C_INF
    Sorceror		7.3    0.6  1.6	   4	 2	C_INF
    Space Aliens...Cardigan 1.6    0.5  0.4    3     3      S60_AGT_GMD
    Spellbreaker		8.1    1.2  1.8	   3	 2	C_INF
    Starcross		7.2	           4     1	C_INF
    Stationfall		6.7		   2	 x	C_INF
    Suspect			5.9		   1	 x	C_INF
    Suspended		7.0		   1	 x	C_INF
    Tossed into Space	3.9    0.6  0.2    1     4      F_AGT_GMD
    Treasure.Zip		N/A		   0     3	S20_IBM_GMD
    Trinity			8.8    1.4  1.7    6     1-2	C_INF
    Unnkulian One-Half	7.0    1.3  1.7    4     1	F_TAD_GMD
    Unnkulian Unventure 1	8.0    1.3  1.7    3     1-2	S10_TAD_GMD
    Unnkulian Unventure 2	7.2    1.4  1.5    3     1	S10_TAD_GMD
    Unnkulian Zero  	9.0 	           1     1	C25_TAD_GMD (Demo)
    Waystation		8.0    1.2  1.5    1     x      F_TAD_GMD
    Wishbringer		6.3		   1	 x	C_INF
    Witness, The		7.0    1.7  1.2    3     1,3	C_INF
    World			6.9    1.0  1.4    1     4	F_MISC_GMD (See Rev.)
    Zork 0			6.5    1.1  2.0	   1	 x	C_INF
    Zork 1			5.9    0.6  1.5	   6	 1-2	C_INF
    Zork 2			6.7    0.8  1.6	   4	 1-2	C_INF
    Zork 3			6.0    0.6  1.4	   4	 1-2	C_INF

    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

    The Top Three:

    	[From now on, a game is not eligible for the Top Three unless it has
    received at least three ratings from different readers.  This is to ensure a
    more democratic and accurate depiction of the best games.  So, if your
    favorite got dropped from the list because you were the only one who rated
    it, you'd better get two friends together and make them play the game.]

     1. Trinity		8.8	6 votes
     2. Curses		8.4	5 votes
     3. Spellbreaker	8.1	3 votes

    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

    Editor's Picks of the Month:

    	This month I have three completely different, but equally interesting
    games to recommend.  First is the game _The Golden Wombat of Destiny_, and as
    the name implies, prepare yourself for a large helping of whimsy, and a dash
    of wonder.
    	The second game is none other than Adventions' very own _The Horror
    of Rylvania_, a very appropriate tale amid today's Anne Rice craze.  Of
    course, Adventions takes a rather unique approach to the vampire genre, and
    I'm sure you'll enjoy this one.  It's at the high end price range of text
    adventures, but from what I've seen of it, worth it all the same.
    	The final game is John's Firewitch.  This little game has made quite
    a stir since its release, proving that short games are sometimes better than
    long ones.  Playing time averages from 2-3 hours, but everyone I've talked to
    has had nothing but praise for it, including myself.
    	'Wombat' is available only for IBM PC compatibles as far as I know,
    but 'Rylvania' supports all TADS ports, another chit in its favor.  Rylvania
    has a demo available on ftp.gmd.de.  Wombat is available in full.  John's
    Firewitch is also a TADS game, available in full, but well worth the $6.00
    registration fee.

    Wombat of Destiny and Solution
    	ftp.gmd.de:/if-archive/games/pc/wombat.zip
    	ftp.gmd.de:/if-archive/solutions/wombat.sol

    Horror of Rylvania Demo & Solution
    	ftp.gmd.de:/if-archive/games/[your computer]/rylvania.[some
    	   compressed format]
    	ftp.gmd.de:/if-archive/solutions/rylvania.sol

    John's Fire Witch
    	ftp.gmd.de:/if-archive/games/tads/firwitch.zip

    ADVERTISEMENTS---------------------------------------------------------------

    From: "Stephen Granade"

    Newly released!  Yet Another Sci-fi Adventure Game (tm)!  It's fun, it's
    kooky, it's...

    WAYSTATIONNNnnnnn.....

    While driving home one night, your car mysteriously dies.  You get out, pop
    the hood, and wham! that's the last you remember...until you wake up
    trapped in a cell.  With no idea of how you got there and no one to ask,
    you must escape and find out why you were kidnapped.

    Visit the lovely sewage dump Melica!  Tour abandoned Comanis!  Avoid Efric
    at all costs!  The game is guaranteed 99.9% maze free, and is freeware.
    That's right, freeware.  (I wrote it as an exercise to see what TADS could
    do.)

    The game is in TADS .gam format, and can be found at ftp.gmd.de in the
    directory if-archive/games/tads, under way.zip.  (If necessary, e-mail me
    at sgranade SP@G obu.arknet.edu, & I'll put a .tar'ed file there as well.)  All
    comments are welcome, all suggestions are listened to.

    See what one man, a twisted imagination, and lots of free time hath
    wrought.  Waystation!  Get yours today.

    CLOSING REMARKS--------------------------------------------------------------

    	Just a short comment on "Whizzard's Guide to Text Adventures", that
    should follow this issue.  I was only able to look at things from an
    MSDOS user's viewpoint.  I am looking for people willing to take a shot at
    the other formats, primarily Macintosh.
    	In other news, both SPAG and other, I have a few comments to make.
    First, no, Avalon is not finished, though I'd give my two front teeth to have
    it done this week.  Maybe expect it this May, or this summer, or possibly
    this fall.  I can say with confidence that I will beat the new decade at
    least.  Beyond that, I can only pray.
    	Next, SPAG starts a new policy this issue, the Unlucky 13.  Every
    issue, 13 poor, put upon readers will be sent a list of 3 games and asked to
    review them.  I got a pretty darn good response from this policy in this
    issue, and I guess I'll continue it, since readers at rest tend to stay at
    rest.  There is no penalty for not reviewing these games, other than a
    smothering, choking miasma of guilt that will gnaw at your very kidneys.

    	*Cough* Ahem.  I don't know what came over me.
    	Well, in the next issue, I'll be running the winning 'breathers',
    and I'll see if I can't scrape together a feature article or something.
    Seeing as I had two I almost put in this issue, I reckon I'll manage.  Welp,
    until next issue then.

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