Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d13/releas15.arc/REPORT.CES

Text File | 1991-07-09 | 86KB | 1,300 lines

 PART I - SHOW OVERVIEW

 We had some interesting discussions both before and after CES (the Consumer
Electronics Show) about the directions game design seems headed in, and our
parallel coverage of different areas will no doubt highlight certain
persistent issues present regardless of genre. In general, this year's CES
seemed much stronger than last year's; advancement is proceeding apace on both
computers and console systems. Software has reached the point where real
programming mastery of the hardware is a given, allowing for more room in the
area of actual game design. Gone is the "oh, wow!" response to lots of colors
and sound; what works this year is what the designers are doing with all that
splash.

 Nothing much new since Winter CES was present on the computer side of things,
surprisingly; game design seems to be moving along _alot_ more slowly these
days, and consensus at the show was that this trend is only going to increase
in the future, as games become ever more complex to produce. The halting but
inexorable progress towards CD-ROM-based entertainment should only intensify
such delays, as massive storage space means lots more investment of time and
money in all aspects of the design process.

 Technology

 We found that 256-color VGA graphics is now a de facto standard for all IBM
games; the heat in graphics design this year thus has to do with the quality
of the artwork more than anything else. In the ears department, not only has
sound board support for AdLib, SoundBlaster and Roland become a virtual must,
but the combination of speech synthesis with music has become a new goal for
all game designers to shoot for. Three major new cards (one already shipping,
two definitely in the works) combine FM synthesizer chips with music and CD-
ROM interface chipsets to provide compatibility with the Microsoft Level 1
Multimedia Standard (more on this later). Also, the mouse has become a primary
interface for most disk-based games. Point and click interfaces have swept
every genre except flight simulators and action games, where joysticks are
still required.

 Support of IBM as the primary high-end computer games platform is
overwhelmingly predominant this year; while games will continue to be
converted to the Amiga (and some will be designed on the Mac II), it seems
clear that the IBM is quickly crowding everything else out of the market, both
in the US and in Europe. Most of the innovation in design is being done with
the Intel 80386 and some CD-ROM/music card standard in mind, and large
quantities of RAM and Hard disk space seem on the way to becoming status quo.
 The one big exception to this trend is Commodore's CDTV. The company is
pushing this CD-ROM system like crazy, and some interesting things are being
done in the way of game design (and redesign) for the new storage medium. Only
time will tell if any of it succeeds.

 Despite lower prices and higher sales, most game companies have not rushed to
support the Mac, though Mac versions of many games are in the works. Only
Broderbund/Maxis was displaying games designed on the Mac at the show, and
Sierra was the only other large company touting an aggressive campaign for
creating Mac conversions of IBM titles. Amiga conversions continue to be
plentiful, though for most games designed in the US, they seem an even more
remote second priority than they did last year. Unless otherwise mentioned,
titles and release dates referred to in this article therefore apply primarily
to the IBM versions.

 Console systems and portable hand-helds are becoming predominant at the mass
market level, and computer gaming is finally beginning to make itself felt
here in terms of the quality and variety of game design. Some of the most
interesting new releases on these latter systems involve conversions of games
originally created for desktop computers. This may prove a disappointment for
some, who have already seen these games for years now on their IBMs or Amigas.
For gamers whose only computer at home is an NEC or Sega or Nintendo, however,
the crossover of disk-based design to consoles will prove wonderful relief
from the dreadful sameness that has heretofore plagued most console game
design.

 In an odd way, this all reflects global economic changes, which are rapidly
eroding the presence of the middle class in most developed countries. Those
caught between wanting to spend $200 and $2000 on a computer for gaming
purposes didn't really seem addressed in this year's hardware environment at
the show.

 Software

 The bulk of what we describe here will suggest that, on the whole, the
industry has bounced back nicely from threats of recession this year. In fact,
CES '91 was livelier for all four days than last year's show, even if there
weren't single significant mega-blockbuster designs distracting everyone's
attention. Most of the major companies are spreading out in a number of
directions at once, making for a much more interesting, and oddly integrated,
electronic gaming environment. No single genre or type of game could be
characterized as producing the "follow the leader syndrome," which we thought
made covering Summer CES '91 much more interesting. On the down side, nothing
we saw seemed particularly revolutionary in concept; game design has become
conservative and evolutionary (dare we say, Nintendo-like?) instead, as it
grows ever more complex. Most if not all of the major companies were dedicated
to re-using and enhancing existing software technology, instead of producing
whole new game engines for each release. Only time will tell whether current
games software systems are sophisticated enough to provide the range and
variety that an insatiable audience craves.

 Other basic splits worth noting before we get to the meaty stuff include
alternate emphasis on linear versus free-form design for CRPGs, real-time
versus turn-based design for wargaming, and complex systems management versus
fast-moving action for simulations. In these and other categories, there seems
to be a struggle going on between those who'd prefer simplifying the gaming
process to provide greater instantaneous mass appeal, and those who'd like to
focus on continuing to satisfy the avid gamer with less spectacular but
richer, longer-playing designs.

 NOTE: Nothing is certain in life, and nothing is less certain than the
release date of computer games. All games listed in this article should be
out sometime between now and Christmas, unless otherwise noted. Where more
specific release dates are given we have tried to err on the side of
conservatism on the grounds that it's better to be surprised by the early
release of a product than by its late arrival.

 Now, on with the show!

 ADVENTURES: MORE PUZZLEMENT

 Adventure games continue to do nicely, with more companies producing them
now than at any time in the last two years. Some are established giants in
the field like Sierra and Lucasfilm, some are newcomers like Accolade, and
still others are veterans from the text adventure days reappearing in new
forms, such as Magnetic Scrolls and Legend Entertainment. One thing was
conspicuously missing from this year's crop of adventure games, though, namely
old fashioned parsers. The text parser has been almost entirely replaced by
icon based interfaces like Sierra's, or "reverse parsers" like Lucasfilm's.

 At the Sierra booth at CES one of the first people we met was CONQUESTS OF
CAMELOT designer Christy Marx. She showed us the demo for her upcoming game,
CONQUESTS OF THE LONGBOW. LONGBOW is based on the Robin Hood legends and
opens with the kidnapping of King Richard during his return from the Crusades.
In the course of the game Robin Hood must raise a ransom to bail out his king,
while at the same time avoiding the snares of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
LONGBOW promises to deliver both plenty of swashbuckling and plenty of depth.
The game world is fairly large, large enough to require a "magic map" for
moving around, similar to the ones used in KING'S QUEST III and QUEST FOR
GLORY II. Christy's description of the research she has done to make the game
historically accurate and the beautifully done game storyboards she showed us
both indicate how much care is going into the creation of the game. (And no,
her Robin Hood will not look like Kevin Costner.)

 While LONGBOW will feature the realistic art and animation that Sierra is
known for, Leisure Suit Larry is taking a turn in another direction. After
being realistically rendered in LEISURE SUIT LARRY III, Larry has gone back to
his short, cartoonish look for both the VGA version of LEISURE SUIT LARRY I
and the upcoming LEISURE SUIT LARRY 5. The rerelease of LARRY I will feature
all the necessary enhancements to update the game, such as 256-color graphics,
sound card support, and the notorious zipper icon. In LEISURE SUIT LARRY 5:
PASSIONATE PATTY DOES A LITTLE UNDERCOVER WORK Larry and his main squeeze
Patti team up to find out what happened to the missing LARRY 4. (That's
right, you didn't miss a game. There is no LARRY 4, so don't rush out and try
to find a copy!) Larry will also show up in THE LAFFER UTILITIES, a
collection of programs which will manage football pools, create off-color
jokes, design silly FAX cover sheets, and otherwise lower office productivity.

 Also on the Sierra schedule is POLICE QUEST 3: THE KINDRED. The game
features digitized graphics similar to those found in Access's MEAN STREETS
and COUNTDOWN, a soundtrack by Jan (MIAMI VICE) Hammer, and "insanity,
brutality, and bizarre ritual killings" according to the press release.
Taking a different approach is ECO QUEST I: THE SEARCH FOR CETUS, an adventure
game aimed at children. In ECO QUEST 12-year old Adam and his dolphin pal
take on "toxic wastes, oil spills, fish nets, and a host of other
frighteningly dangerous environmental hazards." Toxic waste for the kids and
ritual killings for the adults -- Sierra has something for everyone!

 The VGA versions of LARRY I and SPACE QUEST I will appear this summer.
CONQUESTS OF THE LONGBOW, LARRY 5, THE LAFFER UTILITIES, POLICE QUEST 3 and
ECO QUEST will all be released in the fall. Looking further into the future,
spring 1992 should see the releases of QUEST FOR GLORY 3 and the second LAURA
BOW mystery.

 Dynamix's new adventure, HEART OF CHINA, was shipped just as CES started. In
response to player requests, a signpost appears in HEART OF CHINA when the
player comes to a place where the story branches.  This allows the player to
go back and investigate all the other plot paths when he finishes the game.
Dynamix also showed a demo of their upcoming ADVENTURES OF WILLY BEAMISH, an
adventure with fine Disney-style animation about a 9-year old boy who gets in
all sorts of trouble in his attempts to attend a video game championship. A
sequel to RISE OF THE DRAGON is also in the works, and is tentatively
scheduled for the first part of 1992.

 Lucasfilm has two new adventures planned for this year. In INDIANA JONES
AND THE FATE OF ATLANTIS the Nazis are searching for the lost continent of
Atlantis. Hidden there is the secret of the metal Orichalcum, which can be
used to create weapons more powerful than the atomic bomb. Naturally, Indy
must stop them before they find this dangerous substance. The game is being
designed by newcomer Hal Barwood along with Lucasfilm vet Noah Falstein.
Barwood has had many years of experience in the movie business, most notably
as the producer of DRAGONSLAYER.

 The Ghost Pirate LeChuck returns from the dead yet again in THE SECRET OF
MONKEY ISLAND II: LECHUCK'S REVENGE, and he's out for the blood of pirate
wanna-be Guybrush Threepwood. Guybrush explores new areas such as beautiful
Scab Island in this sequel from MONKEY ISLAND designer Ron Gilbert. I had a
chance to try out both games, and it was clear they will feature Lucasfilm's
trademark humor. The opening of INDY, for example, is hilarious, as Dr. Jones
finds a lost idol in the most unlikely place.

 Both games have innovative new features. The new INDY game allows the
player to take one of three different paths through the game -- an action
path, with arcade-style sections; a maze path, with the emphasis on twisty
passages; and a puzzle path, which allows the player to concentrate on mental
challenges. The storyline also changes in subtle ways depending on which path
is chosen. This allows the player to choose the style of play they like most,
and in addition makes the game replayable. MONKEY ISLAND II also features
three levels of play; the plot remains the same, but you can choose the level
of puzzle difficulty. A puzzle in Easy mode might be solved in one step, but
might take three or four steps in Hard mode. MONKEY ISLAND II also features
vertical scrolling and realistic lighting effects.

 At Accolade they were showing a demo of LES MANLEY LOST IN L.A,. the sequel
to last year's SEARCH FOR THE KING. LOST IN L.A. sports many enhancements
including 256 color graphics, digitized sound and graphics, and a new no-
typing interface that uses dialogue paths similar to those found in Lucasfilm
games. The plot deals with the kidnapping of Helmut Bean (the World's Smallest
Man) and his girlfriend, LaFonda Turner.

 Also coming from Accolade via its U.S. Gold label is MURDER, a whodunit with
elements of the CLUE board game. Suspects and murder weapons vary from game
to game, making MURDER replayable. The game features a vast array of locations
and a wide variety of elements, so each new time through is a truly distinct
type of clue-unraveling experience.

 Access Software (MEAN STREETS, CRIME WAVE) wasn't showing anything on the
floor, but we heard rumors that they were giving private demos of an upcoming
adventure called MARTIAN TRADER, which will supposedly feature close to full
motion video graphics.

 Reports of the death of the text adventure continue to be greatly
exaggerated. Legend Entertainment began shipping TIMEQUEST, a time travel text
adventure with graphics, just as CES began. Written by Legend president Bob
Bates, TIMEQUEST adds some small enhancements to the SPELLCASTING 101
interface such as the ability to ask characters about various topics, and more
music during the game. It also features a huge game world encompassing
England, Rome, Peking, Cairo, Babylon, and Mexico.

 SPELLCASTING 201: THE SORCERER'S APPLIANCE will be released by Legend later
this year. Written by SPELLCASTING 101 author Steve Meretzky, SPELLCASTING
201 will chronicle the further adventures of Sorceror's University sophomore
Ernie Eaglebeak. It seems that while fooling around with the Sorcerer's
Appliance (the same device that caused so much trouble in the first game)
Ernie creates a squad of "voluptuous, ambitious, and domineering" women intent
on conquering the world. This is comes as quite a blow to Ernie's masculine
ego, of course, and he sets out to stop them.

 Magnetic Scrolls will be rereleasing three of their text adventure classics
in one box. THE MAGNETIC SCROLLS COLLECTION will feature FISH, CORRUPTION,
and GUILD OF THIEVES, all rewritten using the remarkable Windows-like
interface created for WONDERLAND. In FISH one plays a lowly goldfish who must
stop the sinister plots of the notorious anarchist group, the Seven Deadly
Fins; in CORRUPTION you play a young financier of the Roaring 1980's whose
integrity is tested; and in the classic fantasy GUILD OF THIEVES you play a
thief who must prove his talents in order to be admitted to the Guild. All
three games feature the same point-and-click interface and resizable graphics
that WONDERLAND did. The COLLECTION may be followed by another anthology of
Magnetic Scrolls "oldies." The people at Magnetic Scrolls are also thinking
about using the new system to create a game that would really show off the
interface's flexibility: an EYE OF THE BEHOLDER-style first person perspective
CRPG!

 CRPGS: SEQUELS STRIKE BACK

 Two things stood out about this year's batch of Computer Role Playing Games.
One was the predominance of sequels. It was a rare CRPG at CES that wasn't a
sequel to some other game. The other is the tremendous increase in the
popularity of first-person perspective CRPGs with VGA graphics and mouse
interfaces. Part of this has to do with the huge commercial success of SSI's
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, but it also relates to the respect CRPG designers have
for the ST classic DUNGEON MASTER. Game designers have been wanting to
emulate DUNGEON MASTER's revolutionary interface on the IBM for years, but
it's only in the last year that mice and VGA cards have become common enough
to allow them to do so. EYE was simply the first IBM game based on a DUNGEON
MASTER-style interface to actually get released; there will be many more in
the months to come.

 If you stood within forty feet of the Origin booth at CES the first thing
you noticed was a twenty inch screen filled by a sinister blue face who
muttered something about an Avatar while synthesized music played at ear-
shattering volume in the background. It turned out that this was a demo for
ULTIMA VII, and that the blue fellow will be the Ultimate Bad Guy in the
forthcoming game. Richard Garriott (better known as Lord British) gave me
some of the background on the ULTIMA VII storyline.

 ULTIMA VII: THE BLACK GATE will be set some 200 years after the events of
ULTIMA VI. Things have deteriorated since the Avatar last visited Britannia.
Disease is wiping out the world's mages, murder is sweeping the land,
pollution has become a threat, and "youth [is] experimenting with dangerous
reagents." (Sound familiar?) Lurking in the background is a strange other-
dimensional being known as the Guardian. To allow the Guardian to enter
Britannia's dimension a device known as the Black Gate must be built. In an
attempt to attract converts who will build the Gate for him the Guardian tries
to convince Britannians, including the Avatar, that he is Britannia's only
salvation. Your goal is to learn the Guardian's secrets and prevent the Gate
from being built. (You won't be able to defeat the Guardian completely, since
he has to return for ULTIMA VIII.) The game will be darker and gorier than
its predecessors, and players will have to use detection as well as hack-and-
slash to win the game.

 ULTIMA VII will be a technical milestone as it will be the first IBM game to
require 2 meg of RAM to run. Optimum performance from the game requires 2 meg
of RAM, 10+ meg of hard drive space, a 16 Mhz or better machine, and both
Roland and SoundBlaster sound cards. Origin is obviously aiming at the high
end of the market with this one!

 As with previous ULTIMAs, the game system is being completely rewritten for
ULTIMA VII. While the overhead view will remain, the world will no longer be
broken up into "tiles." Objects will be twice as large as they were in ULTIMA
VI, and more animation will be used for each object. Gameplay will be real
time, not turn based. The interface will be radically simplified. To
accommodate mouse users there will be only two commands: WALK and USE. To see
your inventory, for example, you USE your character. To talk to another
character you USE him with your weapon sheathed; to attack another character
you USE him with your weapon drawn. Just make sure you don't forget to
sheathe your sword when you decide to have a chat!

 Richard also gave me some more information on DUNGEONS OF ULTIMA, Origin's
first-person point of view fantasy RPG. DUNGEONS will allow the player to
rotate a full 360 degrees. This allows much more complex locations, such as
curved passages and twisty staircases, than the usual DUNGEON MASTER/EYE OF
THE BEHOLDER system. The game should be out this winter.

 Later on I talked to Origin producer Warren Spector, whom some of you may
recognize as Dr. Spector in SAVAGE EMPIRE and MARTIAN DREAMS. He showed me
MARTIAN DREAMS, which has just shipped, and said that other Origin staff
members show up as characters in the game -- for example, Dibbs is actually
WING COMMANDER wizard Chris Roberts. He also told me that MARTIAN DREAMS
would probably be the last in the WORLDS OF ULTIMA series, but that other
ULTIMA-based games using the current system, perhaps set in Britannia, might
be in the works.

 Next door at the Interplay booth the big news was the upcoming release of
STAR TREK: THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY, an action/role-playing game based on the
original TV series. STAR TREK will combine WING COMMANDER-like space flight
sequences (complete with digitized graphics of enemy spacecraft) with Sierra-
style planetary exploration adventures. Previous STAR TREK games have been
duds, but if the demo is any indication Interplay will be the first company to
finally create a STAR TREK game that lives up to the show's reputation.

 At the other end of the technological spectrum from the sophisticated
graphics and sound of STAR TREK is THE BARD'S TALE CONSTRUCTION KIT, due out
in September. The KIT's graphics are primitive compared to today's standards,
yet in other ways the KIT is a major product. The reason: THE BARD'S TALE
CONSTRUCTION KIT allows you to create your very own CRPGs, equal in complexity
to the BARD'S TALE games of old. (Which, incidentally, were created by
Interplay even though they were published by Electronic Arts.) You can design
your own dungeons, spells, traps, and monsters. The kit features VGA
graphics, digitized sound, mouse support, and sample dungeons. Would-be game
designers, this is your chance to create your dream RPG!

 Coming in the first half of 1992 from Interplay are the sequel to DRAGON
WARS (with an all new interface) and the much-delayed time travel game MEAN
TIME. This fall will see the release of THE TWO TOWERS, the next game in the
LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. The game uses essentially the same system that
LORD OF THE RINGS, VOL. 1 did, but THE TWO TOWERS will add an improved
interface, automapping, and the ability to split up the party while you
explore Middle Earth.

 Speaking of Tolkien, the much-delayed RIDERS OF ROHAN will finally be
released by Konami. Originally slated to be released last year by Spinnaker,
RIDERS is a Tolkien-based game with strategy, role-playing, and action
sequences -- sort of a WAR IN MIDDLE EARTH with arcade sequences. Also due
from Konami is a CRPG based on the venerable TV series MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.
The game will allow you to play any of the agents from the TV series, and will
allow you to do all the things a good spy should -- wear disguises, place
bugs, tail suspects and so on.

 Fans of SSI's Advanced Dungeons and Dragons games won't have long before
they have something new to play. GATEWAY TO THE SAVAGE FRONTIER is a new
"gold box" game which is scheduled to be released this summer. GATEWAY is set
in a hitherto unknown section of the Forgotten Realms, and will be an
introductory level game. While the plot sounds a bit familiar (the player
must gather four magic statuettes to prevent an invasion of nasties,) the game
was developed by Beyond Software under license from SSI, and SSI promises that
the new outside designers will bring a fresh air to the gold box series.

 SSI has several other AD&D projects in the works, including another Krynn
game, a game based on TSR's upcoming DARK SUN modules, and a project
tentatively titled CITADEL OF THE BLACK SUN that will use an isomorphic, or
two-thirds overhead, view similar to the one seen in EA's THE IMMORTAL. And
of course SSI is working on a sequel to this year's huge hit, EYE OF THE
BEHOLDER. The good news is that in response to numerous player requests EYE
II will have enhancements such as a town, more than one saved game, a method
for having all party members attack simultaneously, and a more elaborate
storyline. The bad news is that the sequel won't be out until this winter.

 CRPG fans who can't wait until winter to play another 256-color first person
point of view game don't need to wait for EYE II, though. BLOODWYCH,
CORPORATION, and OBITUS are all coming to MS-DOS machines this year. All of
these games have EYE-like interfaces, and all of them were big hits on the
Amiga in Europe. BLOODWYCH has the interesting capability of allowing for
multiplayer party management. Two players can compete or cooperate on the
computer, or one player can manage two separate parties at the same time. The
split-screen design remains an innovation in the genre.

 CORPORATION looked the like the most intriguing of the bunch. CORPORATION
is a science fiction game where you must infiltrate the corporate headquarters
and destroy a dangerous mutant robot. Your party can can have both human and
android characters, and characters can use high tech weapons, psionic skills,
or dangerous drugs to augment their abilities. CORPORATION features real-time
combat in a gamespace consisting of true 3-D design. The potentially
irritating simulation of walking motion has been removed from the IBM
incarnation, along with a few bugs.

 ELVIRA is a first-person point of view European game that has already been
released in the U.S., and in the wake of its success comes ELVIRA II: THE JAWS
OF CEREBUS. In this installment you task is to defeat a powerful force that
has taken over an abandoned movie studio. The game features the same eye-
popping (literally!) gory graphics, along with a slightly redesigned
interface.

 The title of best looking first-person point of view game, though, may very
well be captured by New World Computing's MIGHT AND MAGIC III: THE ISLANDS OF
TERRA. The graphics of this game are truly astonishing, with animated traps
and realistic lighting effects. The game has 85 different types of animated
monsters, as well as digitized sound and a point and click interface with a
host of innovative features, such as little gargoyles that indicate hidden
items and character portraits that show the mood of the characters. Unlike
previous MIGHT AND MAGICs, monster graphics no longer represent multiple
monsters: what you see is what you fight. The days of fighting 150 orcs on
one 6 foot by 6 foot spot of terrain are over. MIGHT AND MAGIC III will
feature a vast game world and the full range of characters classes and races
from the first two games. MIGHT AND MAGIC III may be the CRPG to beat in 1991
-- if the gameplay lives up to the visuals.

 The WIZARDRY series has traditionally been known for the complexity of its
puzzles and its devout cult following rather than its fancy graphics. That may
change with the release of the next WIZARDRY game, CRUSADERS OF THE DARK
SAVANT. Last year's BANE OF THE COSMIC FORGE saw a redesign of the WIZARDRY
system, and CRUSADERS will see yet another. The most important new features
are VGA graphics and a true point-and-click mouse interface. All you need to
do to pick up an item in CRUSADERS is click on it and drag it to a character.
Gameplay will not be sacrificed to flash, however. (When asked about this the
Sir-Tech representative merely laughed and said, "Have you ever talked to
David?", referring to BANE designer and perfectionist D.W. Bradley.)
CRUSADERS will feature more complex CRPG interactions, a game world which
promises to be unlike that found in any other fantasy CRPG, and multiple
starting points which depend on which of the endings to BANE you found.
CRUSADERS OF THE DARK SAVANT should be released by Sir Tech in time for
Christmas.

 MAGIC CANDLE 2: THE FOUR AND FORTY doesn't have the spiffy graphics of MIGHT
AND MAGIC 3 or the new WIZARDRY game, but it does boast a list of new features
as long as your arm. Foremost among these is an automatic note-taking utility
that allows you to save, search, and print out all the conversations you have
in your wanderings. Up to forty characters can now be placed on assignment,
which means that they continue training, researching, and so forth while the
main party adventures. For example, you can assign several characters to work
to provide your party with funds for exploring. (At last! A CRPG that allows
you to exploit the workers.) Party members have minds of their own, however,
and may desert you if you treat them too badly. Party members can be assigned
to lead the entire group, and each member has their own style of leadership
(fighters will encourage the group to attack with swords, whereas wizards will
try to get everyone to use magic, etc.). Other features include new skills,
new spells (my favorite is Glamour), the ability to negotiate with monsters,
more side quests, VGA graphics, and mouse support. MAGIC CANDLE 2 should be
released by Mindcraft this summer. Mindcraft is also working on MAGIC CANDLE
3, which may be released as early as this winter, and is thinking about doing
a science fiction game.

 VENGEANCE OF EXCALIBUR is the sequel (there's that word again!) to last
year's SPIRIT OF EXCALIBUR. In VENGEANCE players will get to explore medieval
Spain using the same blend of strategy and role-playing found in SPIRIT.
Several changes were made to the SPIRIT system, however, to correct its
deficiencies. The storyline has been strengthened and player goals made
clearer. Control of characters has also been simplified. The story revolves
around a demon set loose by Morgan Le Fay and your attempts to capture him.

 CONAN, by the same company, and using essentially the same engine, promises
to be a truly dynamic, real-time CRPG. Some might consider it more of an
action game, in fact, but much of the same depth of exploration and
fascination of situation present in SPIRIT OF EXCALIBUR and VENGEANCE will be
retained for CONAN.

 While fantasy CRPGs continue to dominate the market, there are a few new
science fiction CRPGs scheduled. In addition to the STAR TREK game mentioned
earlier there are several other space operas in the works. Microprose will be
releasing ELITE PLUS, an updated version of the 1986 game ELITE, and
HYPERSPEED, the sequel to last year's LIGHTSPEED. Both games combine
action/spaceflight ssequences with role playing elements. (See the flight
simulation report for more information.) PLANET'S EDGE from New World
Computing also takes a "little of everything" approach. Players can construct
their own ships, engage in STAR COMMAND style space combat sequences, and
explore planets using an ULTIMA-style overhead view. The player's ultimate
goal is to find the long-lost planet Earth. (Shades of Isaac Asimov!)

 While last year's MEGATRAVELLER 1 met with indifferent success,
MEGATRAVELLER 2: QUEST FOR THE ANCIENTS is likely to do much better. Along
with the most extensive character design capability ever built into a CRPG,
MEGATRAVELLER 2 will feature more than 100 planets to explore, each with more
than 500,000 square miles of terrain. Party members respond to the commands of
your character according to their personalities. Most importantly, the new
MEGATRAVELLER 2 combat system allows you to control one character while other
party members defend themselves. This is a great improvement over the
MEGATRAVELLER 1 system, where you controlled one character and the other
characters died horrible deaths. The ships, weapons, and character skills will
be true to the paper MEGATRAVELLER game. This makes sense, as MEGATRAVELLER 2
is being designed by Marc Miller, creator of the paper TRAVELLER game.

 Perhaps the most intriguing CRPG products shown at CES this year are those
that stay true to the spirit of the paper role playing games that created the
genre in the first place. Konami's upcoming CHAMPIONS game will be
scrupulously faithful to the paper game's rules. You can be sure of that,
because the designer of the computer version is the creator of the original
paper game, Steve Peterson. In CHAMPIONS players will be able to create their
own superhero with a wide variety of powers to choose from. The player can
also choose his hero's costume and the visual and audio effects that go with
his powers.

 Several features of CHAMPIONS make it distinctive. The player can control
the speed of the animated combat sequences, so he can decide if he wants
combat to be real time or turn based. Every item on the combat screens can be
manipulated, so if your character wants to blow up a trash can with his energy
bolts or throw his opponent through a wall, he can. Interaction with Non-
Player Characters in CHAMPIONS is unlike any other CRPG on the market. Instead
of asking questions, your character chooses a goal for the conversation, then
chooses different moods and conversational tactics to achieve that goal. If
your tactics match the NPC's mood you achieve your goal, but if not the NPC
may respond with insults -- or a few brisk energy bolts in the face.

 The plot in CHAMPIONS is advanced by choosing options from a menu of
choices.For example, if you hear a noise in an alley you might be given the
choices of ignoring it, running into the alley, or entering the alley
cautiously. The idea behind using the menu options is to eliminate
repetitious wandering around the game world by the player. The different plot
vignettes combine to make a highly non-linear story where outcomes will vary
depending on the player's choices or goals. For example, you can play your
character as a noble do-gooder or as a hunted vigilante.

 DARKLANDS is a project in the works at Microprose that won't be released
until sometime in 1992. DARKLANDS will be the first historically accurate
fantasy role playing game, a nice oxymoron if ever there ever was one. The
game is based on 15th century Germany, and will attempt to mix the realism and
detail of Microprose's simulations with the drama and complexity of paper role
playing games. While there will be fantasy elements to the game, those
elements will framed in terms of the medieval population's perception of
reality. Instead of casting spells, for example, characters will pray to
saints or use alchemy. Like CHAMPIONS, DARKLANDS will use menu driven
storytelling to create complex storylines. One of the most interesting
features of the game is that it will feature an "adventure generator" that
will make the game completely replayable. Regardless of how the final product
turns out, DARKLANDS will definitely be one of the most unusual CRPGs ever.

 WHERE THE ACTION IS

 In the flight sim arena, which remains at the forefront of developing
technology, the big plus this year is that the software is finally beginning
to move towards context. The current generation of flight sims generally
provides situation and story pretty much as an afterthought to the flight or
combat model. What we are going to see over the next year is the integration
of highly-developed flight simulation models into fully fleshed-out story and
role-playing situations. The genre distinctions that veteran gamers are used
to are quickly being disintegrated in the process. And once again, Origin is
leading the way.

 WING COMMANDER was released just last October, and is still going strong,
what with the two mission disks available for the system. This wasn't enough
to satisfy Chris Roberts at Origin, though. Eager to push design further in
the direction of richness of gameplay, Roberts' team has come up with WING
COMMANDER II, due out July. WC II develops the context of the action elements
in the game, with the introduction of things like bomber and tailgun
positions, instant replay abilities, and dynamic AI for the computer-run enemy
ships. As you get better, they improve to match your abilities. Graphics have
also been significantly improved (believe it!), with much finer definition in
the articulation of the ships' animations as well as much smoother animation
overall. Digitized speech will be introduced in WING COMMANDER II for
SoundBlaster owners, and will be further enhanced by Origin's planned "Speech
Accessory Pack," a $20 add-on. As with WING COMMANDER, WING COMMANDER II will
be supplemented with "Special Ops" add-on disks to extend gameplay even
further. Most importantly, however, the unfolding story of war with the
Kilrathi takes a series of new twists and turns. If Origin keeps expanding the
story attached to this series, I could live quite easily with another ten
sequels!

 WING COMMANDER II is great news for us, but old news already at Origin. The
really hot project currently underway is STRIKE COMMANDER, a next-generation
advancement in Origin animation technology. Work is being done to provide
exciting, intensively detailed 3-D terrain for fly-over, including (finally!)
things like high mountains and deep valleys for the missions. Again, STRIKE
COMMANDER must be seen to be believed; nothing else out there comes even close
for modeling the thrill and beauty of flight!

 That's not even really the core of the design, however; STRIKE COMMANDER puts
you in the early 21st century on Earth, in the midst of a bunch of mercenary
pilots named "Stern's Wildcats" (what is it with Origin and cats?), who are
ready to treat logistics and morality with equal consideration. A plausible,
if slightly loony, situation has been conceived for the game, in which the US
has broken down economically, due to excessive federal debt. The IRS have
become the Ultimate Bad Guys. The storyline smacks of an interesting
combination of the historic Federal vs. States' Rights issues that have
characterized American history with an ingenious (and amusing) commentary on
how Things Never Turn Out the Way You Expect. STRIKE COMMANDER will feature
dozens of in-game characters, and promises to be even more interactively
cinematic than WING COMMANDER or WING COMMANDER II. I hope this is the first
episode in another fascinating, developing story. Is anything else worth
playing?

 Well... yes! Electronic Arts' hot flight sim title for the show is CHUCK
YEAGER'S AIR COMBAT, the next game to derive from the engine originally
designed for LHX and STORMOVIK. Massive refinements on that engine have been
incorporated into this simulation, providing for greater detail and realism in
flight maneuvers. A number of info windows can be accessed during flight along
with the usual views, to deal effectively with the representation of
situational awareness (SA) in a combat mode. An excellent "performance
envelope" window provides dynamic, instantaneous visual feedback on how hard
you're driving your machine, and the Target window does a great job of helping
you sustain your sense of relationship to the enemy plane. All in all, there
are about 20 different views available. One of the most exciting features of
CHUCK YEAGER'S AIR COMBAT is a point-and-click mission designer, that allows
you to pit almost any number and combination of aircraft against each other
(missions can be saved to disk and shared). Planes from different eras can be
combined into tactical strike forces. You just click quickly through a series
of options, and voila! a story is created. YEAGER'S AC will come with 6 planes
and 50 predesigned missions (you can fly planes from either "side"). Yeager
will, of course, be selectable as a kibbitzer. Flight recordings, including
tactical analysis, can be saved and replayed (or uploaded to CIS so other
players can kibbitz too).

 Treading the cutting edge of integrated simulation and story design,
Microprose's GUNSHIP 2000 combines the best of this company's flight sim and
strategic technology into an absolutely massive, carefully conceived series of
situations. Three arenas in the Persian Gulf and three in Central Europe, each
800 square km large, provide for ample variety of terrain and opponent. You
have the option of choosing from 7 different helicopter types, and can combine
up to three different heli designs for a detailed mission. Reconnaissance,
assault, transport and close ground support can be mixed to produce
fascinatingly complex situations. Air and artillery support can be called in
as well. Both the flight simulation and the mission design engine have been
totally reformulated; GUNSHIP 2000 is definitely _not_ GUNSHIP with 256 colors
and a SoundBlaster! Both graphics and sound are quite spectacular, though --
advanced topographical 3-D has been developed for the game, and provides all
the terrain features necessary for simulation of actual tactical chopper
maneuvers. A mission designer (which allows creation and saving of your own
missions) along with a campaign game will be included.

 While nowhere near as sophisticated, Virgin Games' THUNDERHAWK is another
attack chopper sim lurking on the horizon, this time in more of a pure fantasy
mode. THUNDERHAWK models an "AH-73M" attack chopper, and provides about 60
different missions broken down into six separate campaigns. A certain amount
of interaction with non-player characters will be included, as well as a whole
host of futuristic combat technology. Not just an arcade game, THUNDERHAWK
will continue to help fill the demand for exciting chopper-oriented air combat
simulation.

 Everyone and their sister in the games rag biz has presented a preview of
FALCON 3.0 in the past couple of months. Nevertheless, it continued to garner
lots of attention at CES. Spectrum Holobyte is about to release a demo sampler
disk of the complex flight model to major software retailers, but nothing new
has been seen yet in the way of information on the campaign design. The
company is in intensive mode on this element of the program, however, and will
hopefully have the simulation ready by August.

 The most exciting, innovative feature of FALCON 3.0 will be the dynamic
campaign model; missions will be generated by the computer in response to the
player's success or failure, providing for an ever-evolving and never
repetitive combat situation. The Padlock view (available in the demo) provides
great enhancement of situational awareness, and the "black box" replay system
first introduced in the Mac, Atari ST and Amiga versions of FALCON has been
completely reconceived in three-dimensions for FALCON 3.0.

 Other Spectrum Holobyte news is that FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER is nearing
release for the Amiga and Atari ST. The European designers should have a good
handle on making this one fly on these 68000-based systems.

 Despite all protests to the contrary, I have to say that Microprose's
upcoming F-117A NIGHTHAWK is primarily a graphics-and-sound revamp of the
original F-19. Much will be added by way of new missions, and enemy
intelligence AI has been significantly improved, but the company is
essentially still working with the same game engine. If you're looking for F-
19 with all the visual and sonic splash the original should have had, though,
this will be your thing. Nine different combat arenas, combined with the
ability to load future mission disks, and a replay option (not saveable to
disk), ensure that F-117A will remain fresh. The graphics and sound are almost
as good as those available in JETFIGHTER II.

 Microprose has also just released a scenario disk for F-15 STRIKE EAGLE II,
focusing (of course) on the recent air war in the Middle East. Eight
historically-based missions will be included, as well as a random mission
generator, to provide extensive new gameplay. The North Cape and Central
Europe scenarios from F-19 are included, as well as night combat capability.

 Back in the space flight sim-cum-role-playing game category, HYPERSPEED will
be a significant update to Microprose's LIGHTSPEED. The game will now include
four clusters (two of them from the original game), as well as more alien
races. The marketing person I talked with at the show assured me that present
owners of LIGHTSPEED looking for an update will be treated fairly. Be sure
you've sent in your warranty cards!

 Further down the line for release, from Microprose's affiliate label
Microplay, is CODENAME: WHITE SHADOW. Featuring a "US in the near future"
scenario which turns the war on drugs into a completely literal idea, CODENAME
will allow you to control up to four F22 fighters in a series of missions.
Designed by Jez San and company, CODENAME is likely to prove one of the most
exciting _new_ flight sim designs to show later this year!

 Arena Entertainment, an overseas affiliate of Spectrum Holobyte, was at the
show with REACH FOR THE SKIES: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN 1940. Using the engine
conceived for FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER, REACH FOR THE SKIES does an excellent
job of modeling 8 different World War II planes, and will include 350
predesigned missions, as well as a mission builder. The game will run in 256
colors and support AdLib, SoundBlaster and Roland (MIDI) sound cards and
systems. Career and single mission assignments will be selectable, as will a
wide range of skill levels. It was very heartening to play the demo of REACH
FOR THE SKIES Arena had at the show; the planes perform quite realistically
despite re-use of the FOTI technology, and in fact both control and screen
updating seems much smoother than that present in the latter.

 One of the most exciting new flight simulations at Summer CES is Virgin
Games' SHUTTLE. Not exactly world-reknowned for doing flight sims, Virgin is
entering the genre in a spectacular way with this program. Apparently input
from NASA has been received on an ongoing basis during design, and it shows.
Not so much a flight experience as an experience in complex systems
management, SHUTTLE nevertheless does an excellent job utilizing both bit-
mapped and solid-fill 3D technology to provide vivid animations.

 The heart of SHUTTLE is in the dozens of different screens providing
extensive feedback in the form of controls and information relating to the
progress of a mission. You'll be engaged in real-time deployment and repair of
satellites, launching of satellites, and execution of complex craft maneuvers
to lift off, initiate, maintain, and depart from orbit, and then complete a
successful landing. Trajectories, land and star maps, and accurate modeling of
mass and gravitational forces combine to provide a richly simulated operating
environment. From what I could see, virtually every control available on the
real thing looks like it is completely implemented in SHUTTLE, yet the design
and organization of all the instrument panels is smoothly and effectively
conceived. A thorough manual, along with a series of selectable help levels,
guarantees that SHUTTLE will be easy both to get into and to explore as you
become more and more familiar with the process of handling such a
sophisticated craft. It doesn't hurt that this all takes place in 256 colors
with full simulation-style animation. No mention of sound board support, but
Amiga and ST versions are planned along with the IBM version.

 Psygnosis had an incredibly exciting demo of "the fractal engine," a graphics
system that provides fractally-based 3-D visuals tantamount to those found on
sophisticated military trainers. The technology is touted as being platform-
independent, CD-ROM-based, capable of running at 20 frames per second, all
without any need for compression. The sense of speed and realism generated by
this system outranks everything else currently available in the home computer
market.

 Included with the terrain animation was some of Pysgnosis' famous ray-traced
3-D animation, this time of a futuristic air chase. The whole thing was
astounding to look at, and gave us a glimpse of where things might go in the
future. I only hope such graphics will someday be implementable in conjunction
with sophisticated flight and story modeling; Psygnosis is brilliant at
conceiving ways of making things look really fast on limited technology. If it
works, who's to complain? Fans of the intro sequences in Psygnosis' games can
take heart that they are indeed working on designing whole games which "look
like that." For now, though, the most we can say about "the fractal engine" is
that Psygnosis continues to produce absolutely gorgeous graphics demos.

 FROM TACTICS TO STRATEGY

 HARPOON proved that the wargame genre is anything but dead, either in terms
of advances in game design or in terms of marketplace appeal. In general, it
was apparent this year that the normally conservative assumptions of many war
and strategy game designers were being outpaced by a range of interesting
innovations, some of them derived from the successes of simulation
technologies. There are hints that pure wargame design may slowly give way to
the kinds of global political simulations pioneered by Chris Crawford and
others; integration of economics and political models into the more "pure"
problems of strategy and tactics, nightmarishly complex as it might sound, is
likely to be one means of saving the genre from financial extinction. This
type of game will continue to appeal to those looking for deep, complex
designs, that provide opportunites for sustained, engaging play.

 The biggest surprise at CES for me was Three-Sixty's MEGAFORTRESS. After a
couple of real dogs in the simulation arena, Three-Sixty has come back to its
original creative self in this design. Strikingly similar in approach to
systems simulation to Virgin's SHUTTLE, MEGAFORTRESS simulates operation and
management of a futuristic heavy bomber in an intense, real-time combat
environment. Six different stations provide an incredible variety of tasks for
the B52H pilot, including not only take-offs and landings and mid-air
refuelings, but complex navigation, electronic avoidance, and munitions
operation as well.

 A first look at MEGAFORTRESS had me daunted, given the fact that almost
 _everything_ onscreen seemed clickable. However, after only a few minutes of
handling, I found that the layout of and relationship between controls and
instruments proved brilliantly seamless, making for truly absorbing and
unfussy play. Given a massive, up-to-date arsenal, complete electronic
situational analysis, a series of missions located in three different arenas
(one from the novel "Flight of the Old Dog," one in the Arctic, and one in the
Mid-East), realistic flight control and an extensive range of views, all
operating in real-time, I would gladly have spent all of CES with
MEGAFORTRESS, were it not for other reportorial responsibilities. Definitely
keep an eye out for this one!

 Rich in terms of the extent of historical information tagged to gameplay,
Chris Crawford's PATTON STRIKES BACK is _the_ major new wargame of the season.
A combination of textual and animated feedback provides the player with deep
contextualization for the tactical maneuvers taking place on the field in this
Battle of the Bulge recreation. Weather and "fog of war" (polite jargon for,
"once it starts we don't really know who's going where") are nicely
implemented, and can be presented with historical accuracy or randomized for
varied gameplay. The usual hexes and icons system characteristic of this kind
of game has been replaced with a beautiful, hex-free map and Modernist icon
representations for units on the field, which should make the game more
appealing for people normally daunted by this kind of game. Nevertheless,
PATTON STRIKES BACK is likely to prove challenging enough to delight even the
most seasoned wargamer, and everyone who plays will appreciate the historical
and advisory information linked to the development of the situation. A special
treat in the "splash" category is a cameo appearance of the game designer in
his first-ever movie role. It's a short flick, but one of the better ones I've
seen this year. PATTON STRIKES BACK is planned for the Macintosh (looks
fabulous on a color Mac II!) and IBM; I hope they can do the beautiful Mac map
for the latter version as well.

 One of the most interesting simulations on the way is Interplay's CASTLES,
which allows you to design and build your own medieval castle. The castles are
shown in 3D perspective, and can be viewed from two angles. You can position
gates, towers, arrow slits, and cauldrons of boiling oil to better protect
your fortress. As you build you'll also have to manage your workforce and
your budget, all the time keeping alert for attacks. In addition to these
activities the game is periodically interrupted by role-playing segments where
as the lord of the castle you will have to make vital decisions about local
politics. You can concentrate on one castle, or embark on an eight castle
campaign of conq -- er, pacification -- modeled after Edward I's campaign in
Wales. If the game lives up to my brief test-drive at CES, CASTLES will join
SIMCITY and RAILROAD TYCOON in the ranks of classic simulations. The game
should be out this summer.

 RAILROAD TYCOON author Sid Ember has not been idle. His latest game gives
you more power than any mere tycoon ever had. In SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION you
attempt to create a entire civilization that will withstand the ages. In
addition to political and economic decisions the player must rebuff the
attempts of computer controlled opponents like Ghengis Khan and Napoleon to
topple your culture. The simulation will start in 4,000 B.C. and continue up
to the present day. Visually, CIVILIZATION resembles RAILROAD TYCOON in that
you lay down tiles to create your civilized areas.

 Ambitious, and thus not likely to show until the end of 1991 at the earliest,
Three-Sixty's PATRIOT should do for land-based gaming what HARPOON did for
modern naval warfare. The talents of Marc Miller, from Game Designers'
Workshop, and Artech software, should combine under Three-Sixty's guidance to
produce an intelligent, rich model that will allow for both historical and
"what-if" types of scenarios. The first scenario provided with the game will
focus (again?!) on the Gulf War situation, and a scenario editor will
eventually be forthcoming as well. No news yet on whether the database of
armaments provided will be editable, or remain proprietary to Three-Sixty. The
game _will_ be one of the first to support SVGA graphics resolution, providing
256 colors on a 640 by 480 resolution screen. The ratio of brain strain to
eyestrain should definitely be in favor of the numerator in this one. IBM,
Amiga and Macintosh versions are planned.

 After eons of anticipation, Mindcraft has finally managed to sustain
Omnitrend (i.e., Tom Carbone and loyal friends) long enough for them to
finally come out with RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, piece 2 in Omnitrend's planned IGS
(Interlocking Game System). This strategic, sci-fi space combat wargame
operates in real-time, and features an immense amount of accessible data on
the details of the game's unfolding, via an incredible number of windows.
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT is promised to interface with BREACH 2, allowing for
movement between the two systems in order to play at both tactical and
strategic levels (attacks on outposts will initiate play in the BREACH 2
mode).

 Given the vast mission-building capabilities present in both games, players
using the combination should be able to put together virtually any kind of
space combat game they can think of. The mission-building system is complex
yet flexible, and really lends itself to the desires of would-be game
designers. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT will come, of course, with thoughtfully
developed, linked missions, designed with the help of Haywood Nichols. Future
games for the IGS system are already in the planning stages.

 Interstel advertised ARMADA 2525 at last year's CES, and there were brochures
on it again this year. The advertising campaign has begun in the magazines, so
perhaps the game will finally show sometime in 1991. It was slated for a June
release, but as of this writing it hasn't even started to go through
playtesting yet, according to Trevor Sorenson, who's been in touch with the
designers. ARMADA 2525 is touted as a multi-player space strategy game in a
complex EMPIRE style, with the addition of diplomacy as well as space and
ground combat. This could well be a real sleeper; an Amiga version is also
planned for eventual release.

 From the same company, hopefully more complete at this point than ARMADA 2525
was last June, UTAH BEACH promises to be an operational-level wargame with a
carefully researched historical database of units and terrain information.
UTAH BEACH focuses on the American portion of the Allied landing in Normandy,
during the period 7 June 1944 to 2 July 1944. 2MB of RAM will be required to
play UTAH BEACH in 256 colors, and the game is planned to operate in SVGA
mode. One interesting feature of the design is a "path planner," which will
help to auto-plot unit movement, taking terrain problems into account.
Successful beach breaches were some of the most complex operations of World
War II, and it will be great if Interstel can produce a wargame that provides
a taste of this piece of military history. The Mac version of UTAH BEACH
should arrive first, in September; the IBM version is slated for October.

 CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST, from SSI, uses virtually the same game engine as
RED LIGHTNING, this time with a database for the '70's Arab-Israeli war.
Nothing has been done to improve graphics resolution or interface design, but
for those who like the RED LIGHTNING system, CONFLICT should provide access to
one of the more interesting late-20th century wars with incredible detail.
Both IBM and Amiga releases are planned, along with mouse support. CONFLICT
should be shipping by the time you read this.

 ANCIENT ART OF WAR IN THE SKIES, from Broderbund, proved a potential
disappointment. The game design itself has depth, and the included campaign
editor will provide for variety in gameplay, but the graphics continue to be
somewhat rudimentary in conception. More importantly, the game design system
feels too much like it's seen its day, despite upgrades to VGA, full sound
board support, and so on. WAR IN THE SKIES should show sometime this summer.

 On a more exciting note, the dynamic, extensive sequel to MIDWINTER, titled
FLAMES OF FREEDOM, is slated for a Fall release in the US from Microprose.
FLAMES OF FREEDOM will include extensive character design facilities, as well
as Training, Solo and Campaign modes. A whole host of different mini-vehicle
simulations are built into the game to allow characters to travel on land, at
sea, and in the air towards their missions. The Campaign mode promises to make
MIDWINTER look like a local skirmish by comparison. There will be between 40
and 50 different islands, each functioning in realtime as an independent
political and administrative whole. Missions include such tasks as rescuing
political leaders, destroying convoys, smuggling arms to fellow resistance
fighters, ambushing enemy units, and sabotaging power stations. An Amiga
version of FLAMES OF FREEDOM is imminent in Europe; the IBM and official US
Amiga versions should ship before the end of the year. FLAMES OF FREEDOM is a
real showcase for what Mike Singleton, veteran British board and PBM gamer,
has wanted to do; its completion should also free up his hand for work on his
upcoming STARLORD.

 Also intent on combining real-time action with strategic and role-playing
oversight and planning, Paragon's TWILIGHT 2000, based on the pen-and-paper
game, focuses on blending character generation, recruiting, vehicle simulation
and isometric-style combat and exploration into a fully-realized scenario.
Characters can be easily constructed via the updated graphical icon interface
(which functions quite well, by the way), and will allow you to choose from 30
different nationalities, 58 attributes and skills, 63 civilian, educational
and military careers, and 2 sexes. Unlike FLAMES OF FREEDOM, TWILIGHT 2000
focuses on a single character at a time, though that character is a party
leader. While combat will take place in real-time, characters other than the
player's will respond intelligently to situations without the need for any
reflex-style control. With any luck, TWILIGHT 2000, like FLAMES OF FREEDOM,
will prove that this kind of action-oriented dynamism need not be excluded
from games appealing to wargamers and role-players (the trick is in providing
action in a form that more mature gamers, with slowing reflexes, can handle).
256-color VGA, sound boards, joystick, keyboard and mouse will all be
supported.

 IBM POPULOUS fans will have to wait a little while longer for POWERMONGER.
This fabulous, incredible resource management game is taking Bullfrog some
time to translate to the IBM, and isn't likely to show until Fall. However
long the wait, POWERMONGER should be a real hit when it finally arrives. No
information from EA yet as to release date for the first Amiga POWERMONGER
data disk. In the works is a World War I POWERMONGER scenario, which will
feature dogfights above the gameworld and trenches within. Bullfrog is also
planning to eventually release a world builder for the game, which will allow
for extensive, detailed editing of most of the variables.

 Gamers on CompuServe have been suggesting for quite a while now that it's
time for another "mech"-style tactical simulator. Games licensed as part of
the Battletech system are no doubt under construction, but in the meantime,
Data East's upcoming BATTLEFIELD 2000 could do quite nicely. Featuring a full
construction set to produce a variety of scenarios, as well as detailed
monitoring and damage to tank system components during play, BATTLEFIELD 2000
combines bit-mapped with solid-fill 3-D technology to provide something that
works well as a cross between a mech simulator and a tactical strategy game.

 We have yet to see _major_ advances made in the integration of strategic and
tactical wargaming with political simulation, but work is certainly being done
in the latter genre to push it to new and interesting heights. As far as game
designers are concerned, the political situations in the Soviet Union and
Central Europe seem to be the current realities most worth attempting to
model. From Spectrum Holobyte, we should see CRISIS IN THE KREMLIN shipping
sometime this Autumn. Vladimir Baculyn, a Soviet programmer now working with
Spectrum Holobyte, is doing the primary design implementation, in conjunction
with San Francisco businessman Larry Barbu, who came up with the original
concept. CRISIS IN THE KREMLIN features animated "TV broadcasts" from across
the Soviet Union as an amusing way of updating the player on progress in the
game; the object is to stay in power for 30 years, by maintaining a balancing
act between a whole host of economic, social, political and military
objectives. The game isn't far enough along to give any indication of the
quality of the political simulation involved, but it certainly has the
prospect of being a really deep, dynamic design, free of the potentially
static qualities previous efforts of this type are sometimes accused of. One
of the nice things about the game is that you can choose your own priorities.
If you'd like to try to stay in power by putting Education above everything
else as your most emphasized goal, so be it. Ditto with Consumer Goods,
Military investment, etc. etc. You can also try being a real Stalinist or
sneaking in Armand-Hammer style capitalism through the back (or what the heck,
front!) door to see what happens.

 California Dreams has so far seemed like a company consisting of boys and
girls who just wanna have fun (witness STREET ROD and STREET ROD 2), but
they've gotten downright serious in their upcoming SOLIDARITY. Designed in
part by members of the historic trade union, SOLIDARITY should be a
fascinating overview of the kinds of struggles this group went through in
their rise to power in Poland during the 1980's.

 BE SPORTING ABOUT IT!

 In general the trend-spotters were disappointed this year by the wide range
of directions the industry is going in. Nothing to hook on and promote as the
NBT (Next Big Thing). However, while it won't set any lights and sirens off to
attract the whole crowd's attention, it certainly seemed evident this year
that Baseball is what sports simulations are going to be all about for awhile
(just as Golf was last year, with the release of JACK NICKLAUS ULTIMAGE GOLF,
PGA TOUR, and LINKS). Electronic Arts is taking a clear lead with the EARL
WEAVER BASEBALL II SYSTEM, including EWB II, COMMISSIONER'S DISK II, and the
1990 MLBPA PLAYER STATISTICS AND MANAGER PROFILES DISK. This combined package
should provide any baseball gaming fan with everything they could ever
possibly want. The action portion of the design is brilliant, and includes
digitized animations of real players in almost full-screen size at certain
moments during play. A completely flexible range of camera views should not
only provide lively, dynamic assessment of the action, but may prove so
successful it could be used as a mini-trainer for those dedicated to
presenting us with the real thing on TV! The physics model designed to
represent ballplay has been completely revamped for accuracy and realism, and
players will have access to stats up the wazoo. EWB II is configurable for
simple, jump-right-in play, or for sophisticated fantasy league and rotisserie
management. The management AI is something special; you can go in and produce
your own manager in incredible detail, designing a team's likely responses to
almost every conceivable on-field situation. That manager can then be selected
at various points for advice, and his advice can even be compared to Earl's,
to allow the player a more general overview of appropriate possibilities.
Players come predesigned, but others can be added from scratch, again in
amazing detail. 40-man rosters will be available (for extended rotation), and
salaries and hiring will be incorporated into the management side of the game.
The print options even provide a means to create home-made baseball cards,
based on one's own players. No mouse interface is planned for EWBB II,
unfortunately; but digitized sound effects and full 256-color VGA graphics are
essential to the design. Oh -- and most important to present fans of EWBB,
some of the unrealistic tendencies built into the statistical model of the
original game have finally been isolated (after years of painstaking
investigation!), and will be eliminated in this version. Eddy Dombrower nodded
eagerly at my suggestion that EWB II is such a sophisticated system it could
serve as a model for ways to improve the computer role-playing genre. A role-
player and a simulation as well, EWB II seemed to me one of the most exciting
things to come out of CES Summer '91.

 SSI, of all companies, is hot on Dombrower's heels (literally! one of the SSI
people was busy trying to sneak in camcorder shots of EWB II as we spoke) with
TONY LARUSSA'S ULTIMATE BASEBALL. Anyone wondering what's happened with Don
Daglow of Beyond Software since the crises at Cinemaware can now stop
wondering; ULTIMATE BASEBALL is being designed by Daglow for SSI. The game
should also provide a comprehensive range of strategic, statistical and
physics modeling to provide for endless, absorbing play. The people at the SSI
booth suggested that ULTIMATE BASEBALL will be able to handle stats-only auto-
play simulations of an entire season's play at a fraction of the time required
for EWBB II. This may or may not be a comment on the comparative detail of the
two programs' statistical models; only time and aggressive, comparative
testing in the hands of the real experts -- you guys! -- will tell. In any
event, between EWBB II and ULTIMATE BASEBALL, baseball fans should have an
embarrassment of riches to choose from by this Fall.

 Data East rounds out the field of the new, "total" baseball simulation with
their BO JACKSON BASEBALL. Like the aforementioned, BO JACKSON will provide
detailed stats, multiple player options, significant improvements in graphics,
animation and sound, and seamless integration of all elements in the design
into a manageable, dynamic whole. The simulation is touted as requiring a
minimum PC speed of 10MHz, to handle the complexity of the design. Another
next generation project, BO JACKSON BASEBALL should also prove competitive in
this genre.

 Totally bizarre to me, but probably eagerly awaited by a huge audience of
hobbyists, Konami's BASEBALL CARD COLLECTOR will provide a sophisticated
database utility to help organize and track one's baseball card collection
(did you know baseball card retail sales exceeded a billion dollars in 1990?
are we insane or what?). Cards can be tracked for inventory and investment
purposes ("forget Picasso! I want Bo Jackson!"), and card information will be
accessible for trading purposes, thus helping collectors limit physical
handling of the cards (I know, I know, there are probably whole companies out
there now dedicated to baseball card restoration, right?). Welcome to America.

 In early anticipation of the Fall football season, Accolade is currently deep
in development of MIKE DITKA POWER FOOTBALL, an excitingly flashy program that
provides easy, icon-style access to management of plays, team rosters,
coaching and practice drill options. With even more chrome than TV SPORTS:
FOOTBALL, and certainly with more design depth, MIKE DITKA POWER FOOTBALL
should prove a real success. 256-color VGA graphics, along with a solid-
modeled 3-D playing field and comprehensive 3-D design, combined with
digitized sound effects, will make MIKE DITKA a real eye-and-ear-popper.
Expect it to appear before September.

 Broderbund's PLAYMAKER FOOTBALL may not have all the flash of Accolade's
upcoming simulation, but will do an excellent job of skills and team
management modeling. Emphasizing careful attention to playmaker utilities, PF
will allow fans of the sport to really dig into the design of the computer's
artificial intelligence for any team sent onto the field. Thirteen different
computer-run teams will be available to test one's skills against, and
multiplayer facilities will also be present in the simulation. Comprehensive
256-color VGA graphics and sound board support (Tandy to Roland) should
provide all the interface one could need. PLAYMAKER FOOTBALL is currently
available on the Mac, and should be ready for the IBM come August.

 On a slightly smaller scale (perhaps appropriate for the nature of the
sport?), UbiSoft will finally be doing something right this Fall with their
upcoming PRO TENNIS TOUR II (already available on Amiga). PRO TENNIS TOUR II
streamlines the play interface present in the original game, and includes
options for doubles play, as well as for training and for a range of different
opponents. One nice feature will be the ability to have some choice in the
design of strong and weak points for your own player, thus allowing you to
customize gameplay to suit your own style more closely. Nothing has beat PRO
TENNIS TOUR for effective tennis simulation; PRO TENNIS TOUR II provides
significant enhancements to a great design.

 Finally, on the front of realistic sports simulations, Accolade is getting
ready to stun us all with their update of JACK NICKLAUS UNLIMITED GOLF for the
Commodore CDTV. JNUG-CDTV will incorporate something like 8,000 digitized
stills from the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, OH. Apparently a team
of photographers walked every inch of the course and photographed the fairways
every eight yards (and I thought managing messages in GAMERS could be a
chore!). At the greens, resolution has been intensified to three yards. The
consequence of all this is that Accolade now has a realistic view of the
course from virtually every point on it. The photography has been incorporated
into HAM-resolution screen design (one of the high-quality modes on the Amiga,
allowing for simultaneous use of all 4,096 available colors), and overlaid
with 16-color animations of the golfers in play (photographs of Nicklaus' own
swing and butt are included in the design). For JNUG fans looking for the
ultimate in photo-realistic detail, a CDTV unit may well have to be in order.

 A mix between a racing simulation, an arcade game and a career management
game, Electronic Arts' MARIO ANDRETTI'S RACING CHALLENGE takes you from dirt
track to LeMans in everything from sprint cars to Formula One high tech. While
RACING CHALLENGE will not be as realistic in the physics of car performance as
EA's fabulous INDY 500, it should provide players with a good taste of the
varieties of racing style in the 12 different kinds of track and many
different kinds of racing present in the game.

 FAST AND FURIOUS

 The bulk of arcade-style game development is happening on consoles these
days, but the special strengths of computers -- namely a wide choice of
interface styles, lots of RAM and mass storage space, and high-powered CPUs --
allows for continued innovation in arcade gaming for disk-based systems. The
influence of simulation, adventure, and CRPG genres on action-oriented games
provides for a variety of gameplay only just beginning to appear on the
higher-end console systems. WING COMMANDER proved resoundingly that there is a
wide market for action-oriented games even on the IBM, as long as the action's
embedded in some sort of thoughtful, in-game context.

 RACE DRIVIN', Atari's very successful stunts arcade coin-op game, is being
brought to the IBM this Fall by Spectrum Holobyte. Much like HARD DRIVIN' in
style and action, RACE DRIVIN' goes a step further in providing autocross off-
road racing.

 Already available for the IBM, BILL ELLIOTT'S NASCAR CHALLENGE is imminent
for the Amiga from Konami. Designed by Canadians Distinctive Software, NASCAR
CHALLENGE is an entirely bit-mapped racing game which provides many of the
views and control features present in more sophisticated racing simulations.

 TEAM SUZUKI, also from Konami, is a solid-fill design that provides for some
good motorcycle racing action. Control of the motorcycles is challenging, and
the 3-D graphics are smooth and fast in both the IBM and Amiga versions.

 One of the most exciting arcade adventures ever to show on computer, the
Bitmap Brothers' CADAVER will be distributed soon in the US by Arena
Entertainment. CADAVER features a 2/3rds-overhead view of the gameworld, and
plays a little like both POPULOUS and THE IMMORTAL. With more than 200
locations to explore and a built-in auto-mapping function, CADAVER will
provide many hours of exploratory fun for fearless adventurers willing to risk
touching a joystick (mouse and keyboard control will also be options). The IBM
version will feature VGA graphics and full sound board support. The Bitmap
Brothers recently completed a fabulous new arcade game, GODS, already out on
Atari ST in Europe, which features some of the most advanced enemy sprite AI
ever to show in an arcade game. Let's hope Arena can snag this one for a US
release, too!

 Considered one of the most innovative game companies in Europe, Psygnosis are
continuing to expand beyond their main strength in pure arcade-style design
and have come up with a marvelous new arcade strategy design . ARMOUR GEDDON,
their first effort in the BATTLE COMMAND Battletech-style mode, is an
incredibly vast 3-D tactical strategy game, that features six different types
of vehicles the player can configure, get into and run. Extensive resource
management, combined with fast, smooth vehicle simulation and a wide range of
views, provides for many hours of absorbing gameplay. Exciting news for multi-
players is that a serial-link option will be provided for direct connection
between two computers. Lug your 486 tower system over to a friend's house and
have some fun.

 LEANDER follows in the tradition of gorgeous arcade adventure design that
Psygnosis have become so well known for. Featuring 22 levels, 3 different
worlds, up to 60 animated sprites onscreen simultaneously, animations running
at 50 frames per second, 11 different soundtracks and a password system to
restart where you left off, LEANDER should prove a real treat this Fall on the
Amiga. Atari ST and IBM versions will be released later on.

 BARBARIAN II, a follow-on to the ancient but still popular BARBARIAN I, will
bring Hegor into the brave new world of cutting-edge arcade adventure design.
Animations and graphics are improved immeasurably, parallax scrolling is a
standard for most screens, and the depth of play that made the first game such
a success will be sustained in the sequel.

 In a category that treads somewhere between arcade game and simulation,
CYBERCON III, to be distributed in the US by US GOLF via Accolade, is an
incredibly rich 3-D environment that provides over 400 locations for
exploration and battle. Designed by Assembly Line, the same group that did
HARMONY and VAXINE, CYBERCON III looks to be the best thing they've done yet,
and is likely to prove one of the smoothest 3-D arcade adventure game designs
ever to show on computer. VGA as well as AdLib and Roland sound will be
supported for the IBM version. The Amiga version is likely to show first.

 In the same category, Data East's ULTRABOTS SANCTION: EARTH is another mech-
style design which will provide realistic in-cockpit controls as well as a
range of difficulty levels to choose from. ULTRABOTS also contains a plot of
sorts, which develops dynamically in response to player successes and
failures. The 3-D design of this game will mix solid-fill with ray-traced
animations, for a richer, less abstract feel.

 Konami will be plastering the computer market with _17_ releases this fall,
including, in the arcade category, BART SIMPSON, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES,
BACK TO THE FUTURE III, and PREDATOR 2. ROLLERBABES, a game originally in the
works from Cinemaware and now likely to be published by Konami, also has high
prospects. SPEEDBALL 2, a wonderful arcade-sports game with Rollerball action,
will be distributed in the US by Konami as well.

 OTHER GAMES

 Only a few things are happening in the "Other Games" category in the next
year. There's certainly plenty of room left in the "pure puzzle" category of
game design, and recent releases, like Interplay's LEXI-CROSS, are evidence
that much can still be done in this genre.

 Psygnosis' smash hit LEMMINGS, which is currently available for the IBM PC as
well as the Amiga, will start shipping in CDTV format soon. LEMMINGS should
provide a real showcase for the CDTV, combining hilarious gameplay, witty
animations, and a wonderful soundtrack. Fans of Psygnosis games will recognize
various parodies of and tributes to screens from other Psygnosis hits.
LEMMINGS will also be showing by 3rd quarter on the Macintosh, and is planned
for console as well as coin-op release as well. No doubt a LEMMINGS CELLULAR
TELEPHONE will be available by next summer's CES.

 Broderbund will be continuing the strength of its CARMEN SANDIEGO line, with
WHERE IN AMERICA'S PAST IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? Continuing to innovate both in
interface and game design, WHERE IN AMERICA'S PAST provides an update to the
time-travel machine available in WHERE IN TIME, as well as more challenging
gameplay due to an increased number of destinations, as well as nine different
historical periods, to choose from. Digitized images brought in from American
art and history should provide some wonderful chrome for the game, and the
1300-page encyclopedia of American history and culture, "What Happened When,"
should warm the cockles of every parent's heart. Likely to be the most
educative of this series yet released, WHERE IN AMERICA'S PAST should be
shipping for IBM by the end of June.

 One of the most innovative products shown at CES was The Sierra Network
(TSN) from Sierra On-Line. What's innovative about TSN isn't the idea
(hooking up game players by modem so that they can play each other) or the
games involved (the basic TSN service allows users to play chess, checkers,
backgammon, cribbage, hearts, and bridge against other players on line.)
What's innovative is the pricing. If TSN has hardware set up in your area all
you pay for the service is a flat fee of about $12 per month. (If TSN doesn't
have hardware in your area -- which will be true for everyone outside of
California at the start -- you pay $2 per hour of use.) Users will be able to
enjoy interactive gaming without worrying about having the meter running or
busting their budgets.

 Al Lowe, creator of Leisure Suit Larry and one of TSN's programmers, showed
me the basic service in action. Visually the service looks much like HOYLE'S
BOOK OF GAMES, VOLUME ONE. Users can create their own on-line persona with a
graphical portrait to match. Thus if you're really a 15-year old dropout with
zits you can choose as your persona a strikingly handsome 30-year old brain
surgeon. The interface was designed to be used by those unfamiliar with
computers. Cards and game pieces are manipulated with the mouse, and users
can talk to other players simply by typing in text at any time. While it is
graphically unspectacular, the service does look very easy to use and should
be a boon for people who can't find bridge or chess partners.

 TSN will become considerably more interesting when the premium services
LARRYLAND and SIERRALAND are added later this year. These extra services will
involve both purchasing a package containing the program data and paying an
extra $7 per month for the premium service. LARRYLAND will have adult
diversions such as a bar, mud wrestling, and a casino, whereas SIERRALAND will
feature family fare like mini golf and bumper boats. Probably the most
popular part of SIERRALAND will be the arcade, where players can participate
in multiplayer versions of STELLAR 7 and RED BARON. Other "lands" are under
consideration, possibly with sports or adventure themes.

 To further enhance their family image Sierra is putting together a whole new
series of games aimed at kids. In addition to ECO QUEST (see the adventure
section,) coming up are MIXED-UP FAIRY TALES and THE CASTLE OF DR. BRAIN.
MIXED-UP FAIRY TALES is a follow up to MIXED-UP MOTHER GOOSE written by QUEST
FOR GLORY designer Lori Cole. The game will use a 100% mouse interface so
that even the smallest kids can play. The CASTLE OF DR. BRAIN is designed for
slightly older children. In their attempts to become the lab assistant to the
famous Dr. Brain, players must solve a whole series of FOOL'S ERRAND-type
puzzles. HOYLE'S BOOK OF GAMES VOLUME 3, also from Sierra, will concentrate
on board games, including Checkers, Dominoes, and Backgammon. In addition to
this adult fare the game will include childrens' favorites like Snakes and
Ladders.

 Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your computer again comes
another rash of "Tris" games from Spectrum Holobyte. SUPER TETRIS will be
designed by TETRIS creator Alexey Pajitnov, and will be a more difficult
version of the original game complete with VGA graphics, sound card support,
and all new scenes of Russian culture. (Not pictures of food lines and ethnic
unrest, we hope.) More interesting is WORDTRIS, which is a mutant combination
of TETRIS and SCRABBLE where the player must spell out words to eliminate
tiles. The game will use a 50,000 word dictionary and sport multiple player
options.

 One of the more bizarre concepts in the works is 360's THEATRE OF WAR. This
will be a chess-like strategy game played on a 3-D filled polygon playing
field. The pieces will be represented by different weapons and warriors from
throughout history. The pieces will be animated, which makes it sound a bit
like Interplay's BATTLECHESS. Speaking of BATTLECHESS, the CD-ROM version of
it was on display at CES, and the animations and sound were truly spectacular.
In the same vein, rumor has it that SSI is working on a chess game based on
the AD&D universe.

 Finally, for those of you looking for something completely different,
Psygnosis is planning imminent release of ATOMINO, a hybrid between dominoes
and a brain-teaser style of game. Your essential goal is to form molecules
from the atoms generated in your test tube; like other realtime puzzlers,
ATOMINO challenges your ability to think quickly and ingeniously about complex
relations. With 60,000 levels (the game is designed to last well into the 22nd
century), ATOMINO will provide a range of difficulty levels to assure both
easy accessibility and extensive challenge.