Games World

Paul Brett with the latest gaming news.

Before I start this issue column I fell that I should say that this will be the last regular GamesWorld column in RISCWorld. This isn't due to a lack of interest on my part, but is a reflection of the lack of new gaming releases to actually write about. There have been a number of interesting projects started in the last few months and I will of course return with the GamesWorld column to cover them one they have reached a proper release. It's been getting more and more difficult of late to find enough to fill a column, even if it is every other month and as far as I am aware RISCWorld is the last RISC OS magazine to feature gaming news every issue.

Still that's the bad news over with, now lets move on to the good news for RISC OS gamers this time round.

The Mirror of Khoronz - Derek Haslam

Derek originally wrote a couple of text based adventure games for Acorn BBC computers, one of which was published under the AcornSoft brand name. The published adventure was called Gateway to Karos. Encouraged by the response to the first game Derek then wrote a second one, The Mirror of Khronoz. However in the mean time the world had moved on and text adventure games were seen as so "last year". The fad at the time was for graphical adventure games. So the game was quietly left to one side.

Fast forward a few years and Derek obtained an Acorn A3000. This gave new life to the project and work was started on a proper 26bit version suitable for the more modern Acorn machines. However as often happens over time the project got stalled due to other commitments. However now we can fast forward a few years and Derek has dusted off the old project and completed it. So now we can all enjoy a game that hasn't been seen before.

Being a traditional text adventure game you type in instructions to control your character. However since we are all using RISC OS computers Derek has taken the time to add a mouse based input system. So you can move using a compass control and well as also use left, right, forward and back commands. You can also save your game at any point using the normal RISC OS interface.

I recommend consulting the supplied HTML instructions for more details on what is an excellent adventure game.

Bloody Battlegrounds - Blasts of the Xtreme

Blasts of the Xtreme have now released their second commercial map pack for Heroes of Might and Magic 2. This new pack was released just in time for the SouthWest Show. The pack contains 25 brand new maps, providing a variety of different styles of play but all linked by a shared storyline that continues throughout.

Bloody Battlegrounds should also work on Heroes of Might and Magic 2 running on other operating systems, but Blasts of the Xtreme haven't so far tested this.

In the story you play the role of a loyal knight for King John and must follow his orders, defeat his enemies.

Bloody Battlegrounds costs ten pounds including postage and packing. Payment can be made by PayPal or by cheque. You can get more details from the Blasts of the Xtreme website although I should warn you that the site features some rather distracting and unwelcome popup adverts that aren't connected with RISC OS. However it's worth putting up with these popups as the site also features a number of other resources for RISC OS gamers, including extra levels for a number of well known titles.

SuperDoku - Sine Nomine Software

SuperDoku Version 1.09 extends the existing range of puzzles offered by this comprehensive Sodoku application to include "comparison" puzzles, where you are given a blank grid with arrows to indicate which of two neighbouring values is the smaller. Another new feature is a "notepad" window where users can mark possibilities for squares themselves.

SuperDoku can generate, give hints on, as well as solve:

Normal Sudoku puzzles (4x4, 6x6, 9x9, 16x16, 25x25 and Samurai grids)
Killer puzzles (4x4, 6x6, 9x9 and Samurai grids)
Hidden word puzzles (4x4, 6x6, 9x9 and Samurai grids)
Comparison puzzles (4x4, 6x6 and 9x9 grids)

Samurai puzzles contain 5 overlapping 9x9 grids in the shape of an X. They are solved just like standard 9x9 puzzles but with the added twist that 36 squares appear in more than one puzzle and have to satisfy the rules for each. Killer puzzles are Sudoku grids with areas drawn out in which no value may be repeated and where the values in each area must add up to the total shown, as well as obeying the normal Sudoku rules. Hidden word puzzles are just like ordinary Sudoku puzzles but with letters instead of numbers, and when the puzzle is finished a word will be found reading across a row or down a column.

Users can save and load puzzles, print them out to solve in your tea-break or export them as Draw files for inclusion in other documents.

A demo version of SuperDoku which offers 800 different puzzles (10 of each sort at different difficulty levels) is in the games section of the software directory. It costs £5 to register and get the full version, you should consult the supplied documentation for more details.

Paul Brett