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ISSUE #6

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      The  |___/ociety for the |_|reservation of  |_|_|dventure  \___|ames.
    				ISSUE # 6
            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--------------------------------------------------------------------

    	First off, thanks go out to Gareth Rees, who sent me the nifty
    40-point gothic outline font now used in the title of SPAG.  I think it looks
    pretty spiffy.
    	Second, if you look in the Closing Comments section, you will find
    the complete rules for the 1995 First Annual IF Tournament.  I'm running it
    this year, and I'm pretty excited about it.  We've got some really nice
    prizes (the list may not be complete) including a $100 cash prize donated by
    Eileen Muller (the editor of XYZZYnews, see SPAG #3) and copies of Excalibur
    (for Macintosh), Save Princeton, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, and Avalon.  I
    hope to see a huge response.
    	In the meantime, is there anything you'd like to see SPAG print?  If
    so, just let me know.  As long as XYZZYnews isn't already doing it, I'll be
    glad to include it.

    				G. Kevin Wilson
    				"Whizzard"

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

    From: "Gareth Rees"

    Dear SPAG,

    Every artistic pursuit, from poetry to architecture, gives rise to a
    body of criticism and analysis.  This performs a service for the
    consumers of that art form - it tells them what's interesting, what's
    enjoyable, what's new (and what isn't) - helping them to be more
    discriminating in their choice, and helping them to waste less time
    searching for things that satisfy their taste.  SPAG serves this purpose
    well.

    But criticism also has a function for the artists.  It explains their
    art form to them, makes sense of old work and puts new work into context.
    It tells them what works, what doesn't; it gives them an understanding
    of the field so that they know what to react against and where the
    opportunities for new work are.

    It seems to me that the interactive fiction genre lacks good criticism
    of the latter type, and that this is an unfortunate consequence of the
    nature of the genre.  Because adventure games are puzzle-oriented and
    because the kinds of people who play the games tend not to want the
    puzzles spoiled for them, extant reviews (such as those in SPAG) and
    serious discussions (such as Graham Nelson's "Art of the Adventure")
    have tended to be very coy about saying *anything* specific about the
    games under consideration.

    I think this is an unsatisfactory state of affairs; I think criticism of
    adventure games needs to get beyond the generalities and into specifics.
    At the moment we have a state of affairs where we all have our own ideas
    about which games are good and why, but we have no effective means of
    communicating our separate understandings to each other.

    I would like to see SPAG containing a few in-depth reviews, especially
    if they contain major spoilers.

    	[Well, Gareth.  I'm perfectly willing to help organize a body of
    criticism geared to the author's needs.  I think the difficulty will be in
    finding someone to write criticisms that involve such in-depth analysis.
    SPAG, as policy, doesn't carry spoilers of the nature you are describing,
    so it would have to be more of a rec.arts.int-fiction thing, that could also
    be put up on ftp.gmd.de.  Again, I can be the editor/coordinator, but the
    writing will have to come from interested parties.  Anyone interested, drop
    me a note. -GKW]

    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, or do not supply them, in which case the
    header will read as "Anonymous."

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

    	The big news in interactive fiction-land this month is _Theatre_.
    I've gotten two, count 'em, two reviews on this real estate/horror/H.P.
    Lovecraftian/Victorian romance tale.  It's definitely worth a look.  Details
    on getting ahold of the game appear with the reviews.  Besides that, it's
    my Pick of the Month.  What more praise do you need?

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

    From: "Magnus Olsson"

    NAME: Balances				PARSER: Inform
    AUTHOR: Graham Nelson			EMAIL: nelson SP@G vax.oxford.ac.uk
    ATMOSPHERE: Nostalgic, slightly surrealistic
    PUZZLES: Some old friends, some quite original ones
    AVAILABILITY: GMD, Freeware		SUPPORTS: Infocom ports
    WRITING: Very good, rather minimalistic	PLOT: Simple, non-linear
    CHARACTERS: Few and sketchy		DIFFICULTY: Below average

    It is an interesting fact that one of the most talked-about adventure
    games of 1994, and certainly the one that caused the most controversy,
    was, according to its author, not intended as a game at all, but just
    as a demo.  Despite this fact, the game/demo did not only become quite
    popular, but the debate about whether its puzzles are in any way
    "unfair" or "illogical" reached enormous proprtions, degenerating into
    the first big flamewar of rec.arts.int-fiction (a Usenet newgroup
    devoted to the art of writing adventure games).  I have seen several
    people writing very kindly about this game, ranking it among their
    favourite pieces of IF; it was recently included on the companion disk
    of XYZZYnews; many people have expressed disbelief in the author's
    claim that the game is just a demo.  [Had our esteemed editor been in
    the habit of putting more varied headlines over reviews than just the
    name of the game, this review may have been titled "The Game That
    Wasn't", or perhaps "The Little Demo That Could" :-)]

    The game in question is "Balances" and the author is Graham Nelson, of
    "Inform" and "Curses" fame.

    If this game is "nothing but a demo", then it is certainly one of the
    most ambitious and playable demos ever written; the fact that so many
    people played it as a game, never noticed the demo aspect, started
    criticizing it as any other game, and seemed to have difficulty
    believing the author when he told them it was just a demo, makes a
    very clear point.  On the other hand, some aspects of the game, which
    would be serious flaws had it been intended as a game, are quite
    natural in a demo, at least in retrospect - but we're of course all
    blessed with 20/20 hindsight.  Be that as it may: game or demo,
    "Balances" is in many ways a very attractive piece of IF, with great
    charm.

    Any Infocom fan is bound to recognize the setting of "Balances": it
    takes place in the same universe as the "Enchanter" trilogy, as a kind
    of epilogue to "Spellbreaker".  Not only that, but the user interface
    is almost identical to those games; spells are cast in the same way,
    and you'll recognize some of the spells, and even some objects.
    Indeed, the opening words reflect this: "This transcript is not from
    the Enchanter trilogy, but it does show most of the usual things you
    can do in those stories..."

    If the universe, interface, and general look and feel of "Balances"
    are almost identical to Infocom games, then "Balances" is considerably
    less detailed: there aren't many objects, there are very few
    locations, and neither the object nor room descriptions are very long.
    This is, of course, quite in line with the game being a demo: if you
    are going to demonstrate that you can implement certain advanced
    features of Infocom games, then you don't want to spend too much time
    designing or describing the rooms and objects that are the necessary
    framework for those features.  Still, however, the author has taken
    the time to create a coherent, consistent world, albeit a tiny one.
    The whole game has a sketchy character to it, but that is sketchy in
    the sense of a sketch by a great artist: Leonardo's sketches are still
    considered great art.  The prose is sparse, but of high quality;
    despite the small amount of text, the author manages to create a very
    pervasive atmosphere of nostalgia (a feeling of nostalgia for the golden
    days of magic before the Change, when seen from the perspective of the
    protagonist; from the perspective of the player, the nostalgia is for
    the golden days of Infocom), more than a little surrealistic, of a
    dreamlike quality that gets a twist in the very concluding paragraph.

    The puzzles are of varying quality, most of them rather easy. Some are
    familiar to all Infocom players (how do you open a locked door without
    a key in "Enchanter"?), while others are quite novel and innovative.
    The "lleps" spell in particular is perhaps alone worth the effort to
    download this game.  Some puzzles have been criticized for seeming to
    require exhaustive exploration of all possible actions - this,
    however, is only natural for a demo, where you're really expected to
    try all possibilities just to see what happens.  It is maybe
    unfortunate that a critical puzzle hinges on a pun that may be easily
    overlooked, but once you've got it, it's quite delightful as puns go.
    Perhaps the most notable feature of the puzzles - one which elevates
    this game high above the level of ordinary demos, and even of many
    serious games - is that many (though not all) of the puzzles not only
    advance the plot, but actually act to reinforce the mood of the game.
    I'm referring primarily to the puzzles involving balances - the
    constant repetition throughout the game of the concept of "balance" in
    various forms enhances its dreamlike quality quite a bit.

    If the prose and puzzles are of a quality (though not quantity)
    comparable to the very best of IF, then the playability aspects of the
    game are more "demo-like".  According to the author, the game (being a
    demo) didn't go through any playtesting; this notwithstanding, its
    more playable than, say, most AGT games, but the parser and vocabulary
    are not quite up to Nelson's usual standards. The lack of synonyms had
    me playing the rather more disagreeable game of "hunt the word" for
    quite some time.  Another aspect of the game that lowers playability
    is the complicated way spells are cast: you must memorize the spell
    before casting it, you can only cast it once before having to
    re-memorize it, and you can only keep four or five spells in your
    memory at once.  Of course, Graham Nelson can't really be blamed for
    this, since he copied the system from "Enchanter"; still, in a game
    like this, where you really have to cast a _lot_ of spells (and the
    demo aspect makes you want to try out all possible and impossible
    spell combinations just to see what happens) you tire very rapidly of
    this rather pointless complication.  I can only urge current and
    future IF authors _not_ to use this spellcasting system in their
    games, but try to find something more convenient, or, if they really
    want to make spellcasting hard, something novel, innovative and less
    time-worn.

    To summarize, is "Balances" really a game or a demo?  I'm not certain
    of the answer, or even if this choice of categories is the appropriate
    one.  As a demo, "Balances" has achieved a state of almost
    unbelievable sophistication; as a game, it is very enjoyable but rather
    sketchy and not quite as playable as one might wish.

    Perhaps instead "Balances" should simply be regarded as a piece of
    interactive literature.  As such, it is original and very charming;
    the dreamlike, nostalgic mood is quite memorable - "Balances" is very
    small and quickly played through, but the mood and the images are
    likely to stay with you for a long time.  Finally, let me just quote
    one line which might be destined to become a classic quotation of IF;
    a line that nicely exemplifies the surreal quality of this game:

    "Tiny in the blue sky, a tortoise flaps across the sun".

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

    From: "Anonymous"

     NAME: Beyond the Tesseract                      PARSER: 2 Word Syntax
     AUTHOR: David Lo                                PLOT: Science Fact
     EMAIL: ???                                      ATMOSPHERE: Creepy
     AVAILABILITY: GMD                               WRITING: Good, but short
     PUZZLES: Great                                  SUPPORTS: IBM
     CHARACTERS: Strange, inhuman                    DIFFICULTY: Hard*

    Taken from the docs:

    Scenario:
    ---------
      You have reached the final part of your mission.  You have gained access
      to the complex, and all but the last procedure has been performed.  Now
      comes a time of waiting, in which you must search for the hidden 12-word
      message that will aid you at the final step.  But what choice will you
      make when that time comes?

      The scenario for the adventure is meant to be vague.  Once the adventure
    has been completed, the scenario will hopefully become clear.

    ---

    Vague is the word for it!  At first glance the world is 4 rooms large, but
    don't worry, soon you'll be popping your stack and collapsing universes,
    looking for those key words.  Also, you'll have a dream, read an IF book
    and have fun trying to get the improbability.

    I personally found this game hard...but that's because I'm in 8th grade and
    haven't had physics or quantum mathematics.  These are the refrences the
    author lists for this game.

        The Beauty of Fractals.
        The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought.
        The Fractal Geometry of Nature.
        Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid.
        The Heritage Illustrated Dictionary Of the English Language.
        Mathematics: The New Golden Age.
        The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary, Encyclopedic Edition.
        The Penguin Dictionary of Science, Fifth Edition.
        Roget's International Thesaurus.
        The Science of Fractal Images.
        The VNR Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics.
        The World of M.C. Escher.

    Ummmm....I've heard of Escher ;).   My favorite part was the dream where if
    you think, an idea will become an object, but then the hypothesis will come
    and you'll have to prove it.  When in the interactive book, you'll find a
    machine that doesn't work.  Now while you would think from what this game has
    been like so far, some heavy mechanical skills would come in handy.  Nope.
        The charecters are not human, except the Professor, but he's in the
    dream.  There's a plant that would really like some fluid....could you please
    fit it in my klein bottle?  And of course the party of numerals!  Don't
    worry.  They won't hurt you.  In fact, nothing will.  You can't die or get
    stuck in this game.
        The game plays exactly like a Scott Adams game.  Room descriptions are
    short and to the point.  He does describe objects better than Mr. Adams
    though.  That brings up another point: VERBS.  You'll be doing a lot of
    popping and _y_ing. Yes, _y_ is a verb in this game.
        Over all this is a fun game that could take a long time to play, or a
    very short time to delete.  Let it grow on you, and if you're really stuck,
    there's a solution on ftp.gmd.de

    P.S. The game also comes with a great philosophy on adventure games.  Check
    it out!

    Tesseract:
    ----------
                   /*--------------/*
                 /  '            /  '
               /   '|          /   '|
            */----'---------*/    ' |
           '|    '  |      '|    '  |
          ' |   '   |     ' |   '   |
         '  |  '   /*----'--|--'---/*
        '   | '  /  '   '   | '  /  '
       '    |' /   '   '    |' /   '
      '    /*/----'---'----/*/    '
     '   /  '    '   '   /  '    '
    '  /   '|   '   '  /   '|   '
    */----'----'----*/    ' |  '
    |    '  | '     |    '  | '
    |   '   |'      |   '   |'
    |  '   /*-------|--'---/*
    | '  /          | '  /
    |' /            |' /
    */--------------*/

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

    From: "Julian Arnold"

     NAME: A Fable                                   PARSER: Poor
     AUTHOR: Stan Heller                             PLOT: I couldn't find one
     EMAIL: Unknown                                  ATMOSPHERE: Kafka-esque
     AVAILABILITY: Freeware, GMD                     WRITING: Reasonable
     PUZZLES: Virtually nonexistant                  SUPPORTS: AGT
     CHARACTERS: Non-interactive                     DIFFICULTY: Couldn't say

    Well, what can I say?  In _A Fable_, a game originally written in 1985 by one
    Stan Heller, and apparently rewritten three years ago by David Malmberg and
    Mark Welch with AGT 1.35, you guide the actions of Max, a somewhat confused
    man.  Unlike most IF _A Fable_ uses the third person (ie, `Max feels suddenly
    like a huge cloud has lifted him up and taken him away').  This adds to the
    detached, dreamlike atmosphere which the author has attempted to create.  The
    introduction tells how Max has gone for an evening stroll through his
    neighbourhood in order to `find himself'. Wrapped in self-obsession he is
    unaware as his world rapidly disappears, and Max soon finds himself in a
    strange place, enveloped in fog.

    Apart from a few foggy areas each location (there are apparently only fifteen
    so the game is mercifully short) is a one or two paragraph scene reminiscent
    in style, but without the content, of some of Kafka's shortest works.  They
    are apparently unrelated to each other, except that each seems as pointless
    and pretentious as the other.  In most of these locations there is one item
    which you can manipulate, but to what end I could not say.

    The only puzzle which I could find (and I quit with a score of 70/75)
    involved unlocking a lock with a key...  Wow!  Admittedly the key was hidden,
    but very obviously.  The score seems to go up for no reason (maybe for moving
    to a new location) and also goes down for no reason.

    I guess Max is wandering around his own mind and each location is meant to
    reveal something to him about himself, but if this is the case it hasn't
    worked. Oh, this is silly.  Even four paragraphs is too long a review for
    this.  Unless I have missed something crucial this game is utter drivel.
    Don't bother.

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

    From: "J. J. Farmer"

     NAME: Plague Planet                             PARSER: Fair
     AUTHOR: Philip Hawthorne                        PLOT: Linear
     EMAIL: ???                                      ATMOSPHERE: Very Good
     AVAILABILITY: Shareware (BBC Micro),            WRITING: Very Good
                   Commercial (Archimedies)          SUPPORTS: BBC Micro,
     PUZZLES: Excellent                                        Acorn Archimedies
     CHARACTERS: Rather Shallow                      DIFFICULTY: Hard

    Let me start by saying this: Plague Planet is a BIG game.  Lots of locations,
    hundreds of puzzles, thousands of hours of fun for all the family, and at a
    very reasonable price.  Which is rather useful, since you will have to employ
    somebody to make your food, walk the dog, clean the house, etc., the moment
    you buy it.  Why?  Because this game is so addictive you won't be able to
    tear yourself away from it.

    The plot is nothing if not unoriginal: you are a peaceful farmer on the
    agrarian planet of Azura when a spaceship lands in your field.  And
    that's pretty much all you know when you start the game.

    Like many excellent games, however, you are left to discover the objective
    for yourself.  In fact, you actually create the objective whilst you are
    trying to do this.  I'm not spoiling the plot too much if I tell you: like
    a prize idiot, you break into the spaceship, releasing the plague virus that
    was contained within and condemning every man, woman and child (including
    yourself) on the planet to death.

    The puzzles in the game are, almost without exception, solvable with nothing
    more than the objects to hand and a little logical thinking.  There are a
    couple of mazes, but hints to the paths through them are lying around, and
    there is no need to fall back on the old "drop an object in every location"
    routine.

    Many puzzles are a joy to solve.  I particularly enjoyed learning to fly
    the spaceship and satisfying the talking door unhappy with its position
    in life.  And the sheer number of puzzles means that there is a tremendous
    variety, ranging from variations on traditional ones (a key in a lock on the
    opposite side of a locked door), to completely original conundrums.

    There is only one "what on earth is the author thinking of" puzzle; the
    meaning of the initials "BMUS".  Just think of a certain American science
    fiction serial...

    As for the other characters in the game - well, there aren't all that
    many.  A few robots, a few animals, a few religious maniacs who will kill
    you on sight, and one miner with a severe flatulance problem.  They don't have
    a wide variety of things to say, but there are various reasons why you can't
    spend much time talking to them, anyway.

    The atmosphere generated by this game is simply wonderful.  The descriptions
    are verbose without being longwinded, and the problems fit into it all
    perfectly - none are "glued on".  You could almost believe you are there,
    sneaking into a mine on the planet Zanthor, evading a Yillis Gorf on the
    planet Aquaria, meeting an "old friend" on the planet Arboreta.

    All in all, this game is simply marvellously addictive and amazingly
    enjoyable.  If you can find a copy, snap it up at once...

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

    From: "J. J. Farmer"

     NAME: Scapeghost                                PARSER: Very Good
     AUTHORS: Level 9 Computing                      PLOT: Linear
     EMAIL: ???                                      ATMOSPHERE: Excellent
     AVAILABILITY: Commercial                        WRITING: Good
     PUZZLES: Poor (part 1), Very Good (parts 2 & 3)
     SUPPORTS: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, PCW, Apple II, Atari ST, XE, 800XL, BBC Master,
               Enhanced (sideways or shadow RAM) BBC Micro, Commodore 64 or 128,
               IBM PC, Apple Mac, Spectrum +2 or +3, MSX 64k, Spectrum 48k or 128k
     CHARACTERS: Excellent                           DIFFICULTY: Moderate-Low

    Let's start at the beginning: Alan Chance was a cop.  Alan Chance was
    infiltrating a drug gang.  Someone (or something) tipped off the gang.  Alan
    Chance got killed, his partner Sarah was taken hostage and his ex-colleagues
    think it's all because of his own stupidity.

    But all is not lost.  Alan Chance has returned as a ghost and, with the aid
    of an adventure game-player intrepid enough to actually locate and purchase
    a copy of this game, has three nights to rescue Sarah and bring the criminals
    to justice.

    Scapeghost was the last game Level 9 wrote before they withdrew from the
    adventure market, and evidence of their previous experience is obvious.  The
    parser understands pretty much anything you type in; you can use the command
    "FIND" or "GO TO" to take you to any object in the game, and you can order
    around characters in the standard fashion (e.g. "JOE, RUN TO MY GRAVE, WAIT
    FOR ANDY, FIND THE WATCH, GET IT, FIND ME"), although whether they actually
    do it is another thing.

    Like most of the later Level 9 games, Scapeghost is split into three
    parts; in this case, the three nights on which the game takes place.  However,
    unlike many of the previous games, they can be played in any order.  I'm
    not really all that keen on this; the parts follow each other in a logical
    and chronological manner, and later parts do all but give you the solutions
    to puzzles in previous parts.  I exercised restraint and played through the
    parts in order.

    The first part, November Graveyard, is probably the weakest.  You start the
    game by waking up at your funeral just before dusk.  There are four characters
    in the graveyard at this point (a workman, a supervisor, a detective and a
    crowd of mourners), and valuable information can be gained from following
    them around.

    Then night falls and you are introduced to the first of your fellow
    sufferers - Joe Danby used to be a publican, but he's stuck in the graveyard
    now because his place "doesn't serve spirits"; groans all round.  He'll
    take you on a guided tour of the graveyard and introduce you to most of the
    residents.  It doesn't take you long to deduce that each one of them has
    a problem, and if you solve it for them they'll help you.

    It's all rather routine and there are some awful puns along the way.  The
    climax of this part involves coordinating your small army of ghosts in
    a final effort to delay the drug gang while you wait for part two.

    As I said, this part has a good atmosphere but it's pretty much all been
    done before.  There is only really one innovative puzzle, which I won't
    go into detail about because I don't want to spoil it for anyone.  It
    took me about a day to complete this part.

    The location descriptions are very terse; some versions include graphics,
    and these help to get the true feel of the locations.  I had the BBC Master
    version, and whilst the graphics were in an ultra low-res mode, with
    the BBC's normal complement of 8 colours not really helping, they were
    of surprisingly good quality and quite atmospheric.  The back of the box
    shows some screen shots from the Atari ST version, and these are of
    near-photographic quality.  On the other hand, they would put the best
    pictures on the box...

    Although the quality of the location descriptions is rather poor, all of
    the other text is truly excellent.  It more than makes up for the other
    shortcomings.

    Part Two, Haunted House, sees you with enhanced abilities, and you can now
    leave the graveyard.  Your previous squad of helpers has melted into the
    darkness, with only Joe Danby remaining to aid you in your quest to
    investigate the gang's old hideout.

    The puzzles in this part are really excellent.  You must use your ghostly
    abilities to piece together your final moments, and to assemble a body
    of evidence.  All of this can be solved by pure logical thought.  There's
    still nothing too testing, but it's all good fun.

    In part three you can finally get to grips with the criminals - but they're
    trying to get to grips with you too, and force a priest to attempt an
    exorcism.  After your exploits in part two, the police are making their
    way to the gang's new hideout - with lights flashing and sirens
    blaring.  A surprise assault it won't be.

    Although it initially seems that you are left to develop your own strategy
    to bring them to justice, the instructions actually tell you what to do,
    which is a mite disappointing.

    The atmospheric touches in this part are excellent.  It's worth playing the
    part through once just to sit and watch the gang's poker game.  The puzzles
    are once again very original, and in some parts hilarious.  Yet again,
    though, there's nothing overly difficult.

    Scapeghost is a truly classic game let down by a poor first part and some
    very brief location descriptions.  Another review (in the magazine "The Micro
    User") said that it contained "real brain-teasers", and left the impression
    that it was rather difficult.  I personally found it very easy - I finished
    it in three days, which is the quickest I've completed any game, but maybe
    I was lucky.

    Availability is probably rather low - it was released in 1989, and
    when I purchased my copy three years ago Level 9's supplies of all their
    BBC games were running very low (sold out of all but three), and it's a
    fair bet that a similar situation exists for the other formats.  However,
    if you do see a copy anywhere, snap it up at once.  You won't be
    disappointed.

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

    From: "Donna Mccreary Rodriguez"

     NAME:   Sir Ramic Hobbs and the High Level Gorilla
    						 PARSER:  AGT
     AUTHOR: Gil Williamson				 PLOT:  Slightly linear
     EMAIL: ???					 ATMOSPHERE:  Whimisical
     AVAILABILITY:  GMD (hobbs.zip),  F              WRITING:  Good
     PUZZLES:  Clever; logical                       SUPPORTS:  AGT ports
     CHARACTERS:   Whimsical; "punny" names          DIFFICULTY:  Easy

    You, the main character, are Sir Ramic Hobbs, Knight Errant.  You have
    made a pledge to rescue Princess Anne de Pea from the clutches of the
    High Level Gorilla, who resides in the Pleasure Dome of the kingdom of
    Trassch Khan.   Corny, yes......but really a  light, fun little game with no
    pretenses except to entertain the player and present some interesting
    puzzles.  Gil Williamson, the author, says that---having spent days lost in
    the caverns of Zork--he wants to make no unfair demands on the player, and he
    is true to his word.  In case you get stuck, there is a solution file zipped
    in.

    Try this one.  In my download from GMD there was no information about
    registering the game and no contact info on the author, so I suppose
    it's a gift.

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

    From: "Gareth Rees"

      NAME: Theatre                           PARSER: Inform's usual
      AUTHOR: Brendon Wyber                   PLOT: destroy the evil
      EMAIL: cctr120 SP@G cantua.canterbury.ac.nz, brendon SP@G caverock.co.nz
    					  ATMOSPHERE: Lovecraft horror
      AVAILABILITY: Freeware, GMD             WRITING: good spelling, no style
      PUZZLES: good                           SUPPORTS: Infocom ports
      CHARACTERS: not convincing              DIFFICULTY: easy

    [This review contains some plot details, but spoils no puzzles.]

    The introduction to "Theatre" explains that you are an estate agent,
    trying to sell an old run-down theatre in a slum area of town.  It is
    late in the evening, and you're in a hurry to see off the buyer and set
    out to the opera, when you remember that you left your pager in the
    basement.  After collecting it, you discover that your car has been
    stolen, and a nasty thug turns up to make sure that you don't wander
    off.  It looks as though you're going to have to spend the night in the
    theatre unless you can find a phone and call the police.

    You have to play through the above.  It takes a minimum of about ten
    turns, but it feels very forced because the game won't allow you to
    explore until you have finished the opening, and the "You can't do that
    yet, because that would be contrary to the plot" messages come thick and
    fast.  Perhaps the author could have found a more natural way to
    restrict access to the rest of the theatre until the opening was
    finished.

    After the opening, the game becomes much wider.  You explore the haunted
    theatre, at first in search of a way out, and then in search of magical
    items necessary to thwart a certain evil power.  You find yourself
    collecting the scattered pages of the 1898 journal of Eric Morris, the
    man who drew the architects' plans for the theatre, which gradually
    reveal a tantalising story of how he fell in love with Elizabeth, a
    mysterious and beautiful woman who persuaded him to alter the plans in
    nefarious ways.

    My first impressions were very favourable.  The developing plot was
    intriguing, and the atmosphere well-judged.  I imagined that the focus
    would be on some tragic and melodramatic incident in the history of the
    theatre (perhaps, I speculated wildly, this would be a jealous rivalry
    between two leading actors over a woman, or a spurned prima donna who
    killed herself).  The puzzles were logical and not over-hard, and the
    programming was excellent: almost everything I tried produced an
    intelligent response, and there were never any problems guessing verbs.
    The developing journal entries kept me interested in looking around for
    more.

    If anything lets the game down, it's the quality of the prose, which
    feels as though it has been very hastily written, without much attention
    to grammar.  There are few memorable or vivid descriptions, and lots of
    clumsy phrasing.  This is a particular problem with the journal entries,
    which have an unfortunate Adrian Mole tone.

    However, the game becomes weaker as it progresses.  The early sections
    are original and interesting, but there comes a point where the game
    loses its atmosphere and becomes a standard fantasy set in
    H. P. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu" mythos.  A couple of scenes (the monster in
    the library and the rats in the tunnels) feel as though they could have
    been lifted straight out of Infocom's game "Lurking Horror", also based
    on Lovecraft's books.  The interesting exploration eventually comes to
    an end with the disappointing realisation that this has been a simple
    treasure hunting exercise: you have to find a collection of colour-coded
    jewels of power and leave them in the correct place.

    The author explained to me that because of time constraints, he hadn't
    been able to spend as much time on the ending as he would have liked.
    "Theatre" certainly feels as though it reached a certain point and then
    was finished off in a desperate rush.  There are many loose ends: for
    example, it is hinted that there is a cellular phone in the theatre, but
    this never materialises.  Some of the closing scenes are very
    unfortunate: for example, the appearance of Elizabeth near the end
    completely spoils the characterisation of her that was established
    through the journal.  It's very disappointing that there is no real
    attempt to link the plot with the potentially interesting milieu of
    early twentieth century theatre.

    I don't want to sound too negative.  "Theatre" is excellent when
    considered only as an adventure game, with good puzzles and superb
    game-play.  I felt that it lacked the consistency and prose that would
    have made it a good piece of fiction too.  But then I feel the same way
    about "Zork".

    "Theatre" is a medium-length game written using the "Inform" compiler.
    The version 5 story file is available by anonymous FTP at
    .  It runs on all
    manner of computers; fetch the following file to find out how:
    .  The
    game includes hints which appear as needed.  These are nicely judged,
    and don't give too much away.

    From: "Julian Arnold"

     NAME: Theatre                                   PARSER: Excellent
     AUTHOR: Brendon Wyber                           PLOT: Not too original
     EMAIL: cctr120 SP@G cantua.canterbury.ac.nz, brendon SP@G caverock.co.nz
    						 ATMOSPHERE: Inconsistant
     AVAILABILITY: Freeware, GMD                     WRITING: Good
     PUZZLES: Mostly logical and intuitive but unoriginal
                                                     SUPPORTS: Inform
     CHARACTERS: Very few and limited                DIFFICULTY: Easy-medium

    In this game you are a property agent who, having just shown some clients
    around a decrepit theatre, are annoyed to realise that you left your
    electronic pager in the old building.  The game begins as you re-enter the
    theatre with a view to retrieving this object before meeting friends at the
    opera.  Suffice to say things do not go quite as planned.

    _Theatre_ is very distinctly split into the traditional opening, mid-game and
    end-game.  Indeed, the three sections seemed rather too distinct from each
    other, lending a rather disjointed feel to the game.  Also contributing to
    the feeling of disjointedness is the atmosphere, which changes about half way
    through from ghostly psychological horror to semi-Lovecraftian `icky' horror,
    more reliant on physical revulsion than a sense of `something's wrong'.  This
    is a shame, as it reminds the player too much of _The Lurking Horror_ which
    is the better game.  The opening is nice 'n easy for beginners with plenty of
    advice in case you don't know what to do next.  This may be frustrating for
    more experienced players as it is very linear.  The middle game opens up
    more, with several well thought out but familiar puzzles open to the player
    at once.  However, as mentioned above, there is a sudden change of direction
    in the atmosphere and style of the game, which was not to this reviewer's
    tastes. The end-game is where _Theatre_ really falls down though, with a
    short sequence of ill- or un- explained puzzles which, once finally solved,
    leave the player with an unsatisfactory ending and a bitter aftertaste.

    Hmm, the previous paragraph gives the impression that I didn't like
    _Theatre_.  This is not true, there are many good points to recommend the
    game.  For a start it seems an excellent game for the beginning IF player,
    boasting several pages of a well written `Introduction to text adventures' as
    well as a short non-interactive demonstration and a useful explanation of the
    way the parser works.  The parser itself, in common with all Inform games, is
    excellent.  The puzzles, although they've mostly been seen before in various
    incarnations, are both logical and fair (again apart from the last few).
    There are also some nice little touches along the way, such as the system for
    reading the diary pages which you pick up along the way (a clever use of
    Informs menu system), the adaptive on-line hints, and the fact that the game
    starts in verbose mode rather than brief.

    To summarize, _Theatre_ is far from perfect but is perfectly adequate with
    several enjoyable moments and a nice `polish' to it.  It is a damn sight
    better than many shareware games out there, and it's free.  Try it, you might
    like it.  Akk!  I can't believe I wrote that...

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

    From: "Magnus Olsson"

    NAME: Wishbringer			PARSER: Infocom
    AUTHOR: Brian Moriarty 			PLOT: Non-linear
    EMAIL: ???				ATMOSPHERE: Horror-comedy
    AVAILABILITY: LTOI2			PUZZLES: Innovative but not difficult
    WRITING: Excellent			SUPPORTS: Infocom ports
    CHARACTERS: Vivid			DIFFICULTY: Below average

    As a postal clerk in the small seaside town of Festeron, your only
    problem, apart from the occasional angry poodle, is your even angrier boss,
    Mr. Crisp.  When he tells you to take a special-delivery letter to the
    Magick Shoppe right outside town, you have no idea that this errand
    will throw you right into the middle of a life-or-death struggle
    between good and evil, or that your idyllic, maybe a little boring
    life will be turned into a nightmarish parody of itself...

    This is the beginning of _Wishbringer_, one of Infocom's
    "introductory" games. That label has led people to dismiss it as a
    trifle, or as aimed at a juvenile audience. It is true that the game
    is a little smaller, a little easier, a little less complex than
    Infocom's "big" games. It is also a little nicer to the player (it's
    very hard to get killed, and at some places you get warned to save
    your game before attempting some dangerous action).

    To draw the conclusion that the game is in any way inferior to other
    games would be a big mistake, however. In fact, I regard this game as
    one of Infocom's very best products: a small-scale masterpiece.  The
    puzzles may be easy, but they're original and innovative. The game may
    be less complex than, say, Zork, but complexity is not necessarily a
    virtue by itself. It may be aimed at a juvenile audience - but aren't
    most computer games?

    What I like the best about this game is that it works with small
    means. There are no horrible monsters, no monstrously evil
    super-villains - but the transformation of idyllic Festeron into a
    distorted, evil mirror image of itself is far more effective; at least
    the first time I played it, it managed to fill me with a fundamental,
    existential dread that is much worse than any fear for monsters or
    evil wizards.

    Still, the game never becomes gothic or macabre; the genre is
    horror-comedy, and the balance between horror and humour is nicely
    kept. The humour never becomes facetious or intrudes on the plot, but
    derives mainly from the sheer absurdity of the situation; the horror
    aspects never degenerate into empty fireworks or become so terrible as
    to stop the humour from working. All the time, you have this anxiety and
    feeling of threat at the back of, but it never gets bad enough to keep
    you from enjoying yourself - it's more like watching 'Twin Peak' than
    'Aliens^3'.

    The game also has great charm, not only in its loving attention to
    detail, but also in its references to other Infocom games (how many
    people have seen the family life of grues and lived to tell about
    it?). Add to this engaging and memorable NPC's (the most memorable
    being, perhaps, something as improbable-sounding as the mailbox from
    Zork 1), a set of very clever (though simple) puzzles (the video game
    and the blurry room are expecially noteworthy), excellent writing, and
    some breathtaking cliffhangers, and you get a very good game indeed.

    A nice touch is that the major puzzles have alternative solutions; the
    Wishbringer of the title turns out to be an object in the game, and
    with that in your possession you can wish for various things, such as
    darkness, rain, or flight. I managed to find the "scientific"
    solutions to all puzzles; however, for beginning players it may be
    nice to have a way around difficult problems - and of course it adds
    variation to the game.

    The endgame, finally, is everything it should be: brief, not too
    difficult, suitably climactic (though not flashy) - and it also
    manages to provide a surprise at the very end, when you thought
    everything was nicely wound up.

    My only major complaint is that it is quite easy at some places to get
    the game into an insolvable state, without noticing that until much
    later; this lowers the gameplay score slightly, though the puzzles are
    sufficiently simple that it's not too difficult to start over again.

    All in all, this is a very enjoyable little game, as well as an
    excellent piece of writing. As an introduction to Infocom, or to IF in
    general, it is superb; for experienced adventurers it provides a
    delightful diversion from the complexities of games such as Curses and
    Spellbreaker.

    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.  (Source code available as well.  So it can be ported
    		 to other computers.)
            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.

     Name		       Avg Sc  Chr  Puz  # Sc  Rlvt Ish       Notes:
     ====                  ======  ===  ===  ====  ========       ======
    Adv. of Eliz. Highe     3.1    0.8  0.3    1     5      F_AGT
    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
    Balances		6.6    1.0  1.2    1     6      F_INF_GMD
    Ballyhoo		7.0    1.8  1.6    2	 4	C_INF
    Beyond Zork		8.0    1.6  2.0    2	 5	C_INF
    Border Zone		6.1    1.1  1.4    2	 4	C_INF
    Bureaucracy		8.4    2.0  1.8    2	 5	C_INF
    Castaway		1.1    0.0  0.4    1     5      F_IBM_GMD
    Cosmoserve		8.7    1.3  1.4    2     5      F_AGT_GMD
    Curses			8.3    1.3  1.7    6     2	F_INF_GMD
    Cutthroats		6.3    1.4  1.2    4	 1	C_INF
    Crypt v2.0		5.0    1.0  1.5    1     3	S12_IBM_GMD
    Deadline		7.2		   2	 x	C_INF
    Deep Space Drifter	5.5	    1.4    1     3      S15_TAD_GMD
    Detective		0.7    0.0  0.0    2     4-5    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 Issue #4
    Dungeon of Dunjin       7.0    1.0  1.5    1     3      S20_IBM_MAC_GMD
    Electrabot		0.7    0.0  0.0    1     5      F_AGT_GMD
    Enchanter		7.0    0.8  1.3	   4     2	C_INF
    Enhanced		N/A		   0	 2      S10_TAD_GMD
    Fable, A		2.0    0.2  0.1    1     6      F_AGT_GMD
    Great Archaelog. Race	6.5    1.0  1.5    1     3      S20_TAD_GMD
    Hitchhiker's Guide	8.2    1.6  1.8    4     5	C_INF
    Hollywood Hijinx	5.5		   2	 x	C_INF
    Horror30.Zip		3.6    0.0  0.9    1	 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)
    Jeweled Arena, The	8.0    1.5  1.5    1     x      ?
    John's Fire Witch	7.0    1.1  1.5    2     4	S6_TADS_GMD
    Journey			6.9    1.3  0.8    1     5      C_INF
    Klaustrophobia		7.3    1.3  1.4    3     1	S15_AGT_GMD
    Leather Goddesses	8.0    1.6  1.7    3	 4	C_INF
    The Legend Lives!	8.2    0.8  1.5    1     5      F_TADS_GMD
    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    1.5  0.3    3	 5	C_INF
    Moonmist		5.8	           4     1	C_INF
    Mop & Murder		4.9    0.5  1.0    1	 4-5	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
    Odieus': Flingshot	3.2    0.4  0.7    1     5      F_INF_GMD
    One Hand Clapping	7.1    1.1  1.3    2     5	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
    Sir Ramic Hobbs		5.0    1.0  1.5    1     6      F_AGT_GMD
    Sorceror		7.3    0.6  1.6	   4	 2	C_INF
    South American Trek	0.9    0.2  0.5    1     5      ?_IBM_GMD
    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		7.5    1.6  1.5    3	 5	C_INF
    Suspect			5.9		   1	 x	C_INF
    Suspended		7.0		   1	 x	C_INF
    Theatre			5.4    0.5  0.8    1     6      F_INF_GMD
    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		7.5    1.3  1.2    3	 5-6	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_SEE REVIEW Issue #4
    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:

    	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.

     1. Trinity		8.8	6 votes
     2. Mind Forevr Voyagn. 8.4	3 votes
     3. Curses		8.3	6 votes

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

    Editor's Picks of the Month:

    	My pick of the month, as you may remember, is _Theatre_.  Theatre is
    a fun, short game.  It uses some interesting techniques, and contains more
    plot and characterization that most other IF games put together.  While I
    agree with my two reviewers that the ending was a let down, I still have to
    compare Theatre with other IF works and state that it shines in comparison.
    Seldom, when exploring the if-archive, will you come across such a gem.
    Just for the sake of convenience, I reproduce the info on where to get it
    below.

    From: "Gareth Rees"
       "Theatre" is a medium-length game written using the "Inform" compiler.
    The version 5 story file is available by anonymous FTP at
    .  It runs on all
    manner of computers; fetch the following file to find out how:
    .  The
    game includes hints which appear as needed.  These are nicely judged,
    and don't give too much away.

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

    	There are no advertisements this month.  Remember, they're free, take
    advantage of them.

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

          Announcing the First Annual Text Adventure Authorship Competition

    	This idea has been bandied about on r.a.i-f for awhile, so I am
    making it a reality.  The original concept of the contest was to get more
    Inform source code out in the public domain.  However, the TADS authors
    wanted to play too, so a category was added for them.  Here is my own
    personal vision for the contest.

    	"This competition is to inspire IF authors to write something,
    however small, and make it available for people to play.  IF as a hobby
    cannot survive unless there are people out there writing and playing it.
    Hopefully, some of the people who enter the competition will enjoy it, and
    decide to write more on their own."

    	Anyways, here are the rules (I mean, the rule.)

    	The Rule:  The text adventure you enter must be winnable in under
    two hours.  Judges will be asked to rate it after playing for that long.

    	That's the main point of the competition.  You don't have to enter
    something really long to have a chance at winning, because you aren't allowed
    to.  That way we get more entries.

    	The rule is not debatable.  It's the only rule, and it's not very
    unreasonable.

    	Now, to enter, simply write a game, using either the TADS authorship
    system, or the Inform authorship system.  The two groups will be judged
    seperately.  Once you have your game, put anything that comes to mind with it
    (that's related to the game) such as maps, read.me files, hints,
    walkthroughs, source code, whatever and .zip it.  I know some folks may have
    trouble with .zips, but I'm here to help.  If someone needs their game zipped
    or needs a game unzipped, just email me, and we'll work out something.  You
    cannot enter a game in both categories by porting it over to the other
    development language.

    	Upload your .zip file to: ftp.gmd.de:/incoming/if-archive/competition

    	The deadline to do this is Midnight on the last day of August.
    	(That's midnight in Germany obviously.  Plan ahead, upload a day
    	early.  I doubt I'll disqualify slightly late entries anyway.)

    	If you want your entry to be anonymous, then leave your name off it
    and email me that it's your entry.  I advise a secret command that pops up
    the author and copyright message.

    	Which reminds me.  All entries MUST be freeware or public domain.  So
    don't enter a game you've worked on for 2 years if you don't want to give it
    away.

    				Judging

    	The judging will be a 'People's Choice Awards' type deal for the
    most part.  There may be a few prizes that are just awarded by the person who
    donated them to whichever game they liked best, but not many.  In general,
    everyone is able to vote.  All you have to do is play every game in the TADS
    and/or Inform category (which will be sorted out on the 1st of September)
    and then choose your three favorite games, in no particular order, for
    that category (or both categories, if you've played them all.)  Email me
    your votes at whizzard SP@G uclink.berkeley.edu.  The games with the most votes in
    each category will win.  The winners will have their pick of prizes available
    in a draft sort of thing.  If there are conflicts between the TADS/Inform
    choices, a coin flip will decide the matter, with the loser choosing another
    prize, if there is one.

    	The deadline for submitting votes is September 30.  Prizes will be
    awarded the next day.

    	The Prizes So Far Include:

    	$100.00 cash, donated by Eileen Mullin
    	1 free copy of Avalon (upon its completion), donated by me.
    	One free registration for Save Princeton, donated by Jacob Weinstein.
    	"Castles and Kingdoms: An electrifying compendium of 15 BASIC
               adventures you can type in to your Commodore 64" by Bob Liddil,
    	   donated by Gareth Rees.
    	1 year subscription to the printed version of XYZZYnews, donated by
    	   Eileen Mullin
    	"Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur" for the Mac, complete with box,
    	   etc., donated by Jacob Weinstein.
    	An autographed copy of my first novel, if and when it's
    	   published--for a winner who feels like taking a big gamble,
    	   donated by Jacob Weinstein.

    	More might be donated as we go along.  If you have something you
    want to donate, email me with details.

    	Good luck, now get out there and write!

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    	   Thank you for helping to keep text adventures alive!

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