home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Falcon 030 Power 2
/
F030_POWER2.iso
/
ST_STE
/
MAGS
/
STOSBTS1.ARJ
/
stosbts1.msa
/
DATA
/
AMPD.DAT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1987-04-22
|
9KB
|
222 lines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for Adam review,....Take it away Adam...
PD GAMES REVIEWS
Adam Medley
Public Domain games have a long and distinguished tradition of
being crap and the truth is.....(This magazine will bring you the
truth ( unless you read the Sun in which case we promise to give
you loads of juicy lies and words of only one
sylbl..syble...sylablle....short words ) ).....most of them still
are. It all depends on what you are looking for. If you are after
some arcade action with super smooth scrolling excellent graphics
and presentation with that one more go ( Cliche number 1 )
addictiveness then you'll just have to write it yourself. However
if all you want is playibility ( and who could ask for more ) and
don't care about presentation or the odd crash then you should be
able to find something in amongst the multitude of mediocraty ( is
that how you spell it ? I should have paid attention in English. I
wasn't cut out to write magazine articles but thats my problem and
you don't want to hear my problems, or perhaps you do. You
disgusting perverts, I didn't mean any lies about me, or any truth
either ). Where was I ...... erm ...... PD ...... crap .....
playability ..... multitude of mediocraty ( thats a bit of
alliteration there. See, I wasn't asleep in all the English
lessons. ) . For the inexperienced or just plain stupid I shall
explain what PD software is and how it works. Anyone who already
knows can bugger off. Now, do I have your full attention ? Good.
In that case I'll just go and turn my tape over 'cos its just
finished................ Hello again, I'm back. PD software is
software that can be obtained for free from a number of sources
mainly specialist Libraries, Bulletin boards and User groups. If
you don't understand any of these terms then get hold of 'Your
Second ST Manuel' by Andreas Ramos which is also public domain and
is excellent. PD software is devided into three sections,
shareware, where you are expected to donate a small ( or large )
sum to the author if you enjoy or use the software a lot, Freeware
which is, as the name suggests, free, and Licenceware. Licenceware
is mainly organised by Budgie UK. It is a system where the author
recieves a small royalty on each copy sold. Because of this the
price tends to be slightly higher ( usually about 20p ) but the
quality also tends to be higher. All of these types my be freely
copied but not sold for profit. Okay, I think its about time to
review some of the good, the bad and the ugly ( Cliche number 2 ).
__________________________________________________________________
Game: Escape
Author: Eric B. Lindros
Type: Shareware
Res: med/high
Review:
This is one of those maze games which every computer seems
to have and no one can quite work out why. The idea in this one is
( as always ) to escape. You are helped and hindered by bombs,
traps, transporters, doors, monsters, scrolls, money, weapons,
rings, belts ?????, ( This one seems to have a bit more to it than
most ) wands, first aid kits, bandages, armour, keys etc.
The graphics are erm... functional ( reviewerese for crap )
your character looks as though he has a hernia and has the
greatest difficulty in walking, he seems to hop. The monsters
consist of blocks with smiling faces or yorkshire terriors who
also have hernias. It can be very hard to tell whats what and even
harder to pick it up and use it. This is due to the strange ( and
very awkward to use ) mixture of keyboard and joystick used and
the fact that some things such as the arrows don't seem to do
anything.
Despite these critiscims it can be quite fun to play and if it
wasn't so hard I might actually have enjoyed it.
Graphics: 34%
Gameplay: 72%
Lastibilty ( Do you ever have that annoying feeling when you know
what the proper word is but can't quite peel it off the tip of
your tongue ? ): 65%
Overall: 59%
__________________________________________________________________
Game: Harfe
Author: Andreas Bewersdorff
Type: Freeware
Res: Any ( Depends on the type of cards you use.)
Review:
The most common type of game in the public domain are card
games. Many theories have been postulated ( Good word huh ? But
not as long as pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcaniconiosis. That
should really confuse the word rap ! ) to explain this and the
most popular is that card games require no imagination to write
and it is a well known fact that anyone who uses a computer has no
imagination and is completly brain dead QED ( bit of sarcasm there
). This is one of those card games. It is a patience variant and
is all in German which can be a bit of a problem ( I didn't pay
attention in the German lessons either ). There is an english
instruction file but it is called HARFE.ENG and it took me a long
time to realise that it was a doc file. These instructions are not
that good and mostly tell you about the card designer which is a
great extra. Therefore here are a few tips, the cards in the
bottom left corner can be put onto one of the strips of cards by
double clicking on them. They are atomatically placed on the
correct pile. Pressing the right mouse button changes the card.
Apart from this it is the same rules as for a comman patience game
whose name eludes me for the moment but according to the
instructions is called the harp. This could explain why the game
is called Harfe ( the german for guess what ? ).
Graphics: Up to you
Gameplay: 70%
Lastibility: 80%
Overall: 75%
__________________________________________________________________
Game: Milestone
Author: David Addison
Type: Freeware
Res: Low
Review:
This is quite a hard game to describe, therefore I shall
describe it ( I like a challenge ). It is a card game without any
cards ( see, I told you it was hard to describe ). The idea of the
game is to score 1000 miles before your opponent does. To do this
your vehicle must work and you must be able to travel. Your
opponent is trying to stop you so that he can clock up the milage
before you do. This is done by playing sentances such as flat tyre
or accident. You must play countering cards to start again such
as spare tyre or repairs. This is quite fun despite being hard to
explain. It doesn't really have any graphics but is well set out
and colourful.
Graphics: N/A
Gameplay: 80%
Lastibility:60%
Overall: 75%
__________________________________________________________________
Game: Tennis
Authors: Bruno Duriez, Albert Loridan and Joel Sana
Type: Freeware
Res: Med
Review:
For public domain software this is just amazing. Excellent
movement and graphics, great gameplay and a lot of options at the
front end. Why can't all PD software be like this ( Cliche number
3) ? There are no instructions but it is just a fairly straight
forward tennis game and doesn't really need any. It can be quite
hard when playing the computer but that is probably because I am
incapable of playing tennis of any sort. What else can I say,
Great ( Cliche number 4 ).
Graphics: 95%
Gameplay: 82%
Lastibility: 90%
Overall:93%
__________________________________________________________________
Game: Royale
Author: Michael Nowicki ( where do they get these names ? )
Type: Freeware
Res: Med.
Review:
This is another of those PD card games but unlike Harfe
this is a pointless waste of time. It claims to be a
representation of poker but there is no way to play anyone else.
All that happens is that you bet one to five coins and then win a
set amount depending on your hand. For instance 5 coins for two
pairs or 500 coins for a royal flush. You start with 100 coins and
it is almost impossible to lose any money at all. One royal flush
and you'll be playing until doomsday ( except you'll die of
boredom long before that ).
Graphics: 54%
Gameplay: 17%
Lastibility: 2% ( You won't even finish one game. )
Overall: 15%
__________________________________________________________________
To all PD libraries out there: I would appreciate any software you
can send me. You never know, I might even review some of it.
Adam Medley, 6 Coltsfoot Close, Wickhambrook, Newmarket, Suffolk
CB8 8UP 6/6/90
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well what a lot of text !!!
I hope you found something of intrest there ( Oh come on ! there must
have been something ?),PD stuff is a good, and cheap way of getting
the most from your ST.Well until next month ....Bye.
Eddie 6 June 1990
HELLO, I THOUGHT I WOULD JUST SAY THAT ADAM FORCED ME TO INCLUDE THIS
ARTICLE, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS WRITTEN IN JUNE , THATS BECAUSE HE IS A
NUTTER!!!
}