INDUSTRY NEWS

MAJOR PLAYERS READY FIRSTQUARTER RELEASES!

January heralds the Consumer Elec-tronics Show, so game manufacturers arepulling out all the stops to have theirsoftware ready to display at the exposi-tion. Industry sources indicate that trans-lations will take up much of the compa-nies' attention during the first quarter.Here are some of the items which are nottranslations which certain companies hopeto release in the first quarter of 1987.

Accolade: Expects to release theirfootball game, 4th and Inches, at the show.The company also plans to release a mur-der mystery entitled, appropriatelyenough, Killed Until Dead. Their"Advantage Series" will be strengthenedby the addition of Power, loosely describedas a space game. Almost ready for release,but expecting to be retitled before Jan-uary, is a new adventure game usingcomic/cartoon situations.

Avalon Hill: The microcomputer gamesdivision is expecting to have Dark Horn ready for both Apple and C-64. This is thelong-awaited fantasy game by TomCleaver, author of Galaxy. Guderian isstill undergoing revision and would be alongshot for first quarter release.

Electronic Arts: EA's Interplay affili-ate is releasing a translation of The Bard'sTale for the Amiga which is much morethan a port. The new version has six dif-ferent songs (used in spellcasting) for thebard with four different instrumentations.

It features 90 different animated graphicsof characters/monsters and 85 differentspells. Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight is nearing completion and features rangedcombat. Also, creatures can be convertedand made a permanent part of the adven-turer's team. They also plan to releaseMichael Stackpole's (Mercenaries, Spiesand Private Eyes) new roleplaying game,Wasteland, which is similar to the MadMax films.

Mindscape: The distributors of MasterDesigner Cinemaware and Balance ofPower aren't simply resting on their lau-rels. They are pinning positive hopes ontheir new Thunder Mountain Division (seebelow) of discount software, but aggres-sively releasing other titles, as well. Paral-lax, a fast-paced space arcade game with athree dimensional effect leads the way,followed by a judo simulation (Uchi-Mata)and a karate adventure. They are also ex-pected to preview Trailblazer, a bouncingball arcade name with some new twists, atthe Consumer Electronics Show. Also pos-sible for the first quarter is the yet unti-tled, third issue in the Macventure series.

Sir-Tech: The official position at Sir-Tech is that there will be no official releasedate on Wizardry IV: The Return ofWerdna or Wizardry V until they areready to ship. The company does plan torelease two other titles in Januaryhowever: Space Combat Simulator andThe Seven Spirits of Ra. The former willbe similar to Skyfox, but set in space and

featuring 3D shapes with color andNewtonian physics (suggested $39.95). Thelatter, based on Egyptian mythology, is amixed adventure/RPG which takes placeinside and outside of pyramids.

Strategic Simulations, Inc.: GaryGrigsby's War in the South Pacific shouldbe available on the Apple by the time youread this and the C-64 version is expectedin late January. This is the only new re-lease definitely set for first quarter, 1987,but there are over 26 conversions in theworks, including Kampfgruppe for IBMand Amiga and Rings of Zilfin, Shard ofSpring, and Wizard's Crown for the ST.

Strategic Studies Group: One thingwhich is as dependable as death and taxesis that SSG won't put out a game they'renot pleased with. The good news is thatRoad to Appomatox will be an excitingand revolutionary product. The bad newsis that it's not certain for the first quarter.Russia, an eastern front game, has beenmoved ahead of RTA on the productionschedule and should be available in early1987.

BRAINWAVE CREATIONS FORMED! Mike Berlyn, author of Suspended and

other Infocom adventure games (as well asthe recent Tass Times in Tonetown whichhe co-authored with Brian Fargo), and hiswife, Muffy, are rumored to be millimetersaway from penning a deal with a majorpublisher for a line of text adventures that

Continued on pg. 60

SNEAK PREVIEW:At first glance, the game looks like the Bard's Taleproducts (which should be no surprise since bothproduced are designed by Interplay). There is ananimated "window" for viewing in the upper left handcorner of the screen and a description "window" onthe right. The lower portion of the screen is devoted toa quick reference sheet on the adventuring party itself.like its sister products, the game boasts crisp graphicsand limited, but effective, animation. The graphics "win-dow" has over seventy different pictures.

Yet, the game is improved over its sister products. Thegame system in Wasteland is dynamic. Once some-thing on the map is changed, it is changed. Further,an old role-playing concept enters into the picturewhen players can "hire" non-player characters to fillout the party. Of course, they do not always do whatthey are ordered. Also, a new feature enables playersto "Disband Party" into four different active parties.This option enables ranged combat to occur and helpsin the solution of some puzzles, but also means thateach party can have up to four encounters at a time.Finally, this game features only one "Save Game" in-stead of the ability to have multiple saves.

WASTELANDIn January of 1987, Wasteland was described as a

potential Mad Max type adventure game to be writ-ten by Michael Stackpole (author of the Mercenaries,Spies and Private Eyes roleplaying system andMayfair Games' sourcebook on Batman for their DCHeroes roleplaying game) and programmed by theCRPG experts at Interplay Productions. As this ar-ticle is being written, Wasteland has just passed its first

week in "Quality As-surance" at ElectronicArts with no majorproblems encountered.This should mean [Ed.:Anyone who has observedthis industry very longknows why we put a"weasel word" in this sen-tence!] that the game is onthe shelves by the time thispreview hits the stands.

Nevertheless, the game is certainly superior to theoriginal concept. Instead of being a "Mad Max" roleplaying game presented on the computer, this post-holocaust game has a unique plotline all its own.Players want to find out what the "Servants of the

Mushroom Cloud" are upto, among other matters. Infact, the game contains250K of text to present thisplotline. However, at least100K of the text which isvital for successfully com-pleting the adventure is "off-line" in a book whichcomes with the game andserves as a non-technologi-cal copy protection. The

story itself is so huge that there are many possibilitieswhich the player may not find, while still able to winthe game. The story-line is non-linear and there are al-ways, at least, two ways to get around a problem.

Interplay insists that the game should be rated PG-13because of the personalized violence in the adventure,as well as the sexual hints. We must agree that there isan undeniable visceral response when the descriptionwindow describes someone as being turned into"blood sausage," reduced to a "fine red mist," or pul-verized into "unrecognizable gore." However, it seemsto fit the model of a post-holocaust society gone rabidwith barbarism.

by William "Biff' Kritzer

The moisture dripping from the subterraneancavern's ceiling echoed eerily in the shrouded

distance that loomed ahead of Hell Razor and hisbattered party. Retracing their path back up tothe surface was out of the question as long as An-

- gela Deathwas still un-conscious.Snake Var-gas hadused hismedicalskills to sta-bilize herconditionbut timewas the onlyhealer for An-gela now.Until shecame to, noone daredgo forwardor back.After all,Angela's per-ception andclimbingskills hadgotten themthis far. HellRazorvowed to

build up his own skills so thiswouldn't happen again.(Ifthey got out of this messalive!)

Wasteland is ElectronicArts' new interactive role play-

ing game based on a pseudo Road Warrior fu-ture, set in the southwest deserts of a post-holocaust United States. The player directs a partyof Desert Rangers, out to protect survivors andrebuild some semblance of society. While undergo-ing this often arduous task, you come uponseveral situations that hint at sinister goings' onthat are beyond the scope of your original assign-ments. It's up to you to then follow the variousleads to a fitting conclusion, or death. It's roughout there! Dozens of monsters, machines andcriminals are just waiting to add a few scalps to

their credit and it's been a while since you've beento the barber, hasn't it?

You start the game with four pre-generatedcharacters or create four characters of your own.Each character is rated for strength, intelligence,luck, speed, agility, dexterity, charisma, skill points,rank, constitution, money, sex and nationality.Each characteristic enables you to do certainthings.

Intelligence is the most important because it al-lows the characters to learn invaluable skills thatare necessary to complete the various tasks in thegame. Strength helps in opening closed doors,moving obstacles, hitting people, etc. Killingmonsters gives you experience points as in mostrole playing games. At certain experience pointlevels you get promotions. Each promotional levelgives you two intelligence points that can then becashed in to gain skills and raise skill levels. For ex-ample, with two intelligence points you could addtwo skills such as assault rifle and picklock, or youcould raise your skill levels on forgery or medicalfrom two to three. This is the heart of the charac-ter generation system and having the proper mixof skills is absolutely necessary to overcome themany obstacles and problems in the game. Thevarious other characteristics affect combat,negotiating ability, physical task solving, etc. Theparty of four the computer gives you initially is awell rounded group that I used to finish the game,but you have the ability to customize your owngroup if you like.

Exploring dangerous catacombs was notHell's idea of a good time, but being a

Desert Ranger was not the safest of jobs in thispost-holocaust world. Hell, along with Angela,Snake and Thrasher had volunteered to solve themysterious deaths in the region and the trail ledinto a cyborg ambush hundreds of feet below theLas Vegas country club. Fortunately, Angela's Kevlar vest had stopped the killer cyborg's spray ofbullets from penetrating and killing her, but whenshe awoke she would be bruised and sore. IfThrasher's Uzi hadn't jammed on his first shot theparty probably could have gotten by withoutmuch damage, but Snake's AK 47 stunned themetal monster long enough for Hell's well throwngrenade to finish it off "There really is safety innumbers down here", thought Hell. This comfort-ing thought was quickly dispelled as the echoesof a Slicer/Dicer rang out up ahead. "Grab Angelaand let's blow!", snapped Hell to no one in par-ticular. "I'll give back cover, Snake, take point.Let's move, now!"

Each player-character can carry up to thirty items,including weapons, ammunition and armor. Thesecan be bought, sold or traded as players see fit.Matching the proper tools with the proper skills isimportant. The ability to use assault rifles doesn'thelp much if you're using a submachinegun. Thetypes of useable weapons cover a wide range.There are pistols, rockets, submachineguns, laserweapons, grenades and other modern weapons inyour arsenal and they all come in handy. To finishthe game your crew will probably be using some

TITLE: WastelandSYSTEMS: Apple II, C-64 (soon)# PLAYERS: SolitairePRICE: $49.95DESIGNER: Alan PavlishPUBLISHER: Electronic Arts

San Mateo, CA

heavy weapons. These don't come cheaply, interms of money or blood.

Ramming his last clip into the NATO assaultrifle, Hell had a glimmering thought of how

lovely the desert must be right now - hot, radioac-tive and full of mutant lizards. Maybe it wasn't sobad down here after all! Just then, Hell heardSnake's cry of despair. Turning quickly, he saw aglittering hulk of metal towering over Snake, itslaser tipped arms locking in on the ravagedparty. As they scurried for cover, Hell heard thereassuring chatter of Thrasher's Uzi. "Unjammedat last," Hell thought, moments before a stream ofbullets threw him against the crumbled remainsof the sewer wall. Darkness drowned out theparty's cries and shouts as Hell drifted down intothe first rest he'd had in weeks.

This is a bloody game. You'll meet a wide varietyof nasties out there, ranging from radiation rats tomutant metal monsters. Knowing when to gunand when to run will keep you alive, for a while.

You'll also be interacting with many non-playercharacters. With the proper charisma or skills, youmay even get some of them to join your party.There is room for three more in addition to youroriginal four and there is safety in numbers in thisgame. Don't count on finding solitary monstersout there, they travel in packs and you should too!

Once your party is assembled it's out into thegreat unwashed desert. The first community youvisit should be Highpool, a nice quiet little com-munity that should get your party acquainted withthe surrounding countryside and its inhabitants.There you'll pick up the first pieces of the puzzle.There are several courses open to you at all timesand there is always more than one way aroundevery puzzle in the game, so you're not locked into any particular order of missions, except in thebroadest sense. You will need certain items to getto different stages of the game, but there are al-ways several ways to get what you need. It is agreat feature that makes the game move swiftly. Infact, the 80-100 hours it takes to finish the gamereally do move along rapidly. I spent many nightsawake until 1:30 or 2:00 AM before grudginglypowering down to await the next day's session.

Wasteland uses a paragraph system to flesh outthe clues given by NPCs in the game. It really givesa nice depth to the plot. These paragraphs areprinted in a booklet which is included with thegame and they save plenty of disk space withoutsacrificing plot depth. It's a nice hybrid that you willprobably be seeing in most games of this genre inthe future. Also, if you decide to peek at theparagraphs out of order, there is a false subplothidden in them that makes it very difficult to cheat.In fact, when finished, the paragraph book is"must" reading.

I like the fact that there is no magic or food todeal with in this game! You don't have to scroungearound for food every twenty minutes and youneed not spend time thumbing through a book ofarcane magic to find the right spell to throw.Those features may add atmosphere to some

games, but it is refreshing to play a game that con-centrates on being skillful enough to disarm analarm, instead of putting monsters to sleep.

If you like sophistication in your simulations, grabthis one. Its ease of play, richness of plot, problemsolving requirements, skill and task system, andgraphic display all make this one of the bestgames I've ever played. It wins my vote for "Adven-ture Game of the Year."

he desert really is quiet and peaceful at sun-set, reds and purple blend into a cool black,

hiding death below the ground.

Desert RangerSurvivalHandbook:

1. Don't be in a hurry to wasteeveryone you meet. Some of thoseunruly looking characters can reallyhelp by joining your party.

2. Always make sure you haveplenty of ammo. When you run low, get more.AK47s are great weapons, but clubs are just asgood if you're out of ammunition.

3. Try to get your party to have all the skills be-tween them. You'll need almost all of them tosolve the game. Also, you can never have toomany members with medical skills.

4. Practice makes perfect, if you try a skill thatshould work but it doesn't, keep trying. Eventuallyit will and your levels will go up withsuccessful use.

5. Write down everything anyonetells you. You'll need the clues theygive to solve problems downline.

6. When low on constitution, gointo the deepest part of the desertto recover. No one will bother youout there while you're healing. Justbe sure you have plenty of waterwith you!

7. Be careful of diseases and radia-tion sickness. Doctors are expensive and yourmedical skills only work for wounds. Radiation suitsare worth their weight in gold!

8. Go everywhere, clues are hidden in the leastlikely spaces.

9. Save the game often! It's easy to die and you'llbe restored to your last save when the game res-tarts. Back up your disks! The game writes to diskwhenever you enter a new location, so keep thatin account when venturing into unknown territorywith a depleted party.

10. Use the print utility on the key disk to keep alist of personnel and their skills. It makes it easy toquickly see who should be attempting varioustasks.

This month,Wasteland takescenter stage as

adventuredom's fourstar rated innkeeperweaves her regulartale of mystery and

suspense.

S Summer is sneaking up on us (the yeardoes seem to be moving along, doesn'tit?); time for those long, lazy days of com-puter gaming under the air conditioning. It

gets pretty hot in the summertime (except, perhaps,around here), and where you're going, it's hotter yet. . . in fact, you might even say it's radioactive.

Wasteland was reviewed in the last issue of CGW(May '88), so what we have here are tips to help youmake it (more-or-less) safely through the dangers ofpost-nuclear catastrophe.

The manual is quite vague about your assign-ment, simply saying that your team of DesertRangers is being sent out to investigate disturban-ces in the desert. That could be almost anything, soit's best to be prepared for everything, includingmutants, monsters, unfriendly people, voraciousanimals, death machines, and other things too hor-rible to contemplate (like radiation poisoning andsewer rot).

You can start with the team of four that comeswith thegame, orcreate yourown charac-ters. I mademy own, butother peoplehave finishedwith theoriginals, sodo whicheverpleases you.Either way,make sure asyou go up inrank (whichsubstitutes forlevel) to add apoint now andthen to Intel-ligence.

SkillfulRecruiting

What you're aiming for is

to get everyone (including the NPC's in the party)up to an IQ of 23. There are some skills out therethat the manual doesn't tell you about, and one ortwo of them are extremely important as you reachthe latter half of the game. These skills do not showup in libraries unless the character actually has thenecessary IQ.

One problem with the listed skills is that some arenot necessary at all, while others are useful only atone specific place (as far as I can tell). Metallurgy,for example, is pretty much a waste. I found onlyone spot where it does anything (geology wouldhave made more sense in that instance), and notvery much even then.

The skills you absolutely want everyone to haveare: clip pistol, submachine gun, rifle, assault rifle,anti-tank weapons, energy weapons, climbing, and

swimming. Skills that two or three in the groupshould have are perception, demolition, medic (veryimportant), and picklock. Beyond that, it's up to youwhat skills to take, although I never found a use forthings like bureaucracy, sleight of hand, forgery,and gambling.

There is one point in the game where swimming isextremely important, and this is based not only onyour swimming skill, but also to some degree onthe character's strength and agility. Make sure thatthese attributes are not too low for each person inthe party.

Many skills will go up over time as you use them,so it's generally not necessary to start out with morethan the minimum ability in any particular skill, al-though you might want to put some extra pointsinto Medic.

Open HostilityOnce you have your initial party set up, it's off to

the great outdoors of the partly-irradiated deserts ofArizona and Nevada. Fortunately, you won't need todo any mapping; the outdoors is actually quite asmall place, in spite of the distances you cover. Thetowns and such are also small, and no mapping isreally needed there, either.

You can pretty much expect that anything you runacross in the outdoors is hostile, ready to rip you toshreds or blow your guts out, so don't hesitate toshoot first and ask questions later. You won't getany treasures from these encounters, but the per-son who gets in the killing hit will receive some ex-perience points.

Indoors (towns and the like) are a bit different.Most of the inhabitants will be hostile, but not all ofthem. Several will give you information. Some caneven be added to your party (good ones to have areAce, Christina, Covenant, and Metal Maniac; sinceyou can only add three, you'll have to make achoice somewhere along the line).

You also need to be on the alert for clues con-tained in diaries, scraps of paper, scrawlings onwalls, etc., so it pays to go over an area thoroughly.Most of the buildings in the towns are abandoned,however, so you needn't go over them with a fine-tooth comb. A few steps inside is usually all it takesto tell you whether or not the place is worth explor-ing.

Your first stop is likely to be Highpool, followed bythe Agricultural Center (while you can go to thetowns in any order, they become progressively moredifficult, so on your first tour it's best to do em inorder). Highpool doesn't have too much of interest,but it's a good place to get some practice with thegame, being relatively safe to walk around in. TheAg Center is another matter, and you probablywon't want to spend much time there until youhave some good weapons and armor.

Mayor ProblemSo it's off to Quartz. Plenty of encounters here,

and many opportunities to pick up some good stuff.Rescuing the mayor and his wife should be high on

your list of things to do, although not the first thing,as there are a number of clues and hints to pick upon first. By the way, don't bother about the brokenjeep outside town. While it can be fixed by Ace,you'll only have it for a short while, and driving isautomatic (only takes you to certain places, whetheryou want to go there or not).

There are at least two ways into the building wherethe Mayor is held, plus at least three ways of gettingto his actual location, so the rescue itself, whenyou're ready, should not be much of a problem.With the mayor, his wife, and Ace in your merryband, as well as better weaponry and armor, youshould be in pretty good shape to go back andclean out the Agricultural Center.

With that taken care of, a jaunt over to Needles isnext. Inhabited by a lot of weirdos, including avariety of Jerks (yep, that's what they're called) anda mysterious cult, this is not the healthiest place inthe world. You can be sure that most people areout to get you, so get them first. Somewhere inNeedles you'll run across Christina; don't make themistake of killing her (this is a good place to dumpthe mayor's wife).

Terror in the TempleThe major activity in Needles will be snooping

around the Temple of Blood. Be careful here; muchof the area surrounding the Temple is radioactive(from time to time you may see radiation canisterson the ground nearby.... DO NOT step on them, un-less everyone is in rad suits), although the interior isfairly safe . . . from radiation, anyway.

There's a lower level to the Temple, which can bereached only by going across the giant chessboardpattern. This is essentially a matter of trial and error;no clues are available to help you find the safe paththrough it. Once you've made it across (andanswered the question; you may want to map thepath), be prepared for additional nastiness beyondand below. Bring lots of ammo with you.

Also bring LOTS of ammo (and rockets, like LAWrockets and RPG-7's) with you to Las Vegas, homeof the death machines. They're all over the place,and are extremely unpleasant to meet. Burning fullclips (assault rifle clips) is about the only way tohandle them (although grenades often work wellonlesser devices, like Chopters and such), but saveyour rockets for the really mean machines, like theScorpitron (no relation to yours truly!), and the MarkI, II, and III tanks.

Before entering Las Vegas (I recommend comingin from the NE corner of the city the first time), youmight want to dump the Mayor so you'll have roomfor Covenant. Remember to take back everythingthe Mayor has first, as Covenant will not come withany weapons or armor.

Of course there will also be the human element todeal with, but they are easy to dispose of, comparedto the machines. Eventually you should make it toFaran Brygo (if the name sounds familiar, it is) andhear his little tale.

Sewer ThingSoon after, you'll be taking a little pleasure trip

through the city sewers. For this, make sure youbring even more than lots of ammo, plus as manyrockets as you can get your hot little hands on: thesewers are a nasty place, infested by Cyborgs of alldescriptions (none of them friendly). You'll also wantrope and a pickax (the sewers, by the way, is whereswimming skills are essential; be prepared for sewerrot).

The best way to fight the Cyborgs is the same aswith death machines: using full clips and rockets. Asbefore, some of the Cyborgs are easier to kill thanothers (Tazels, for instance, are real wimps, and theCybertrikes are pretty easy, too), so don't waste pre-cious rockets on them. Just spray 'em with hot leadand keep moving.

While there are a lot ofrandom Cyborgs wanderingaround down below, someof them are fixed in oneplace. These are the onesthat will give you loot afterbeing defeated. Among theloot from various en-counters you'll come acrossodd things like servomotors,rom boards, power con-verters, and the like. Makesure you take all of these items with you, as they areextremely important.

Now, you'll probably want to investigate theSleeper Base, which does not appear until afteryou've successfully completed the sewers. It's a pret-ty safe place; aside from a couple of mechanicalguards, there are no monsters or machines wander-ing around inside it.

There are some neat things in the place, includinga couple of vaults that hold some very good stuff.One vault you won't be able to open right away (theone with the blue barrier inside it), so leave thatalone for awhile. The other one, which contains themore mundane items, should not be much of aproblem for you, and makes for a nice personal ar-senal.

Devolution in DarwinAround about now you may want to visit the town

of Darwin (if you haven't come across it before).The one thing you have to keep in mind is that youshould always approach Darwin from the north, as itis surrounded on the other three sides by radioac-tive cannisters (which are sometimes visible, andsometimes not).

Darwin itself isn't all that interesting a place (al-though the black market there sells a few rockets),but it will lead you to another area that is muchmore important where you can obtain what youneed to open up the second vault at Sleeper Base.Just watch out for the Humungous Coyote (he's amean one!).

(Continued on page 53)

(Continued from page 23)

When you're done with that, you should be aboutready for the Citadel. It is never made entirely clearas to why it's necessary to assault this place, asthere is nothing to indicate that the Guardians areparticularly evil (strange, yes). However, they toohave a vault, with some very good armor in it, andyou'll be needing that armor for the end game (boy,will you need it!). Rockets and energy weapons willbe most helpful in dealing with the Citadel denizens.Don't forget to poke around the other places in theCitadel; you might find a few interesting items.

You'll want as many power packs as you can pos-sibly carry for your journey through the end game,and these are not for sale anywhere, so don't waste'em. Use regular weapons (Uzis, assault rifles, etc)for the piddling monsters in the desert or towns.Stocking up on rockets is another good idea, andyou'll probably want to bring along some plastic ex-plosives for contrary doors, as well as a rad suit ortwo.

The final base (once you get inside) may not seemto have much, but as we all know, looks can bedeceiving. A perceptive person might just discover

a secret or two that will lead you onwards to destinyor something. At the penultimate moment, remem-ber that there's a reason for that disband commandand I hope you can run fast. Grin!

Write On!One more thing: while the game writes often to

disk, and there are many one-time items, almostnothing is truly irrevocable. If you make a mistakeon disks 2, 3, or 4, you can always create a newcopy and try again (there is really no reason whyanyone should have to restart the game). The onlytime you can run into trouble is if you make a mis-take on disk 1.

Then you might have problems, so it's good prac-tice to backup disk 1 every so often. This can bedone easily (for you Apple owners) with good oldCOPYA. While this isn't able to make a new disk(you have to use the utility that comes with thegame), it works perfectly in creating backups of exist-ing play disks.

Well (peeking at the invisible clock), I see that it'sabout that time again. Remember if you need helpwith an adventure game, you can reach me in thefollowing ways:

On The Source: send SMail to ST1030. On Del-phi: Visit the GameSIG (under the Groups andClubs menu). On GEnie: Stop by the GamesRoundtable (type: Scorpia to reach the Games RT).By US Mail (those living in the United States mustenclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if theywant a reply): Scorpia, PO Box 338, Grade Station,New York, NY 10028.

Copyright 1988 by Scorpia, all rights reserved.

W ell, it's August, and Fredis off at the annual Grues

Convention being held (asusual) in the Dark Room of ColossalCave. I under-stand that thisyear they're goingto try and getDaylight SavingsTime repealed(grin). Anyhow,with Fred awayand the dog daysof summer uponus, this is a goodtime to trek intothe cool backroom and peekinto the (overflow-ing) mailbag.

Before we get tothe letters,though, I'd like toremind everyonethat it really isnecessary, if youlive in the UnitedStates, to enclosea self-addressed,stamped envelopewith your ques-tions. Otherwise,you aren't goingto get a reply (aSASE is notnecessary if youlive outside theUS).

Also, I really dotry to get a replyout the day after Ireceive a letter,and usually canmanage that.However, mail ser-vice has been veryerratic lately.Sometimes a let-ter can take asmuch as a weekor more to reachme, when another letter from some-one else in the same state (or evencity) will arrive in my box in only acouple of days. I have never figuredout why this is so, but it is. So whenyou write, keep in mind that aresponse could be delayed by thevagaries of the US Postal Service.

Finally, I am not able to provide

back issues, or copies of articlesthat appeared in previous issues, ofCOW. You have to write directly tothe CGW address to order back is-

sues (copies of individual articles arenot generally available). Check thelisting of back issues before order-ing anything. Some back numbersbecome sold out and if the issueyou want is not listed, it is no longeravailable (photocopies of articlesfrom out of print issues run $1.00each). Now, on to the games!

Wasteland (clues carefully ir-radiated over a glowing atomic pile):A number of people are havingsome problems with opening the

cylinders at BaseCochise. What isneeded here aresome keys (NOTsecpasses); if youdon't have one foreach cylinder, it'svery likely that youmissed somethingat the Citadel. Goover each roomthoroughly. Also,there is a patterninvolved here,which can befigured out onlyby trial and error.

Bard's Tale I(answers served"on the rocks"):Some folks arebeing puzzled bythe "one of cold"riddle inKylearan's Tower.This one is actual-ly simple toanswer, if you'vepaid enoughmoney to the bar-tenders at thetaverns.

Bard's Tale III(hints displayedon a bed of"iceberg" lettuce):The Ice Keep inGelidia seems tobe a popularproblem thesedays, specificallygetting past thewards of the threetowers. If youdon't mind freez-ing a bit (or evenif you do), wander

around the outdoors until you locatethe hut. Inside you will find some-thing to put you on the track of thesolution. Don't overlook the phrasesby the wards, and keep your manualhandy (you'll be referring to it often).

Beyond Zork (silken solutionswith a dash of color): Caterpillars

Scorpion's Mail

Game Hints

S ummer is behind us at last,and what a long, hot summerit was; hardly any new games

came out (sigh). Even Fred wasdepressed. Now, we can look for-ward to all the new releases comingout for Christmas (yeah!). Whilewe're waiting for these goodies to ar-rive, let's take a trip to the backroom and see what the mailbag hasto say about current favorites.

Wasteland

I've been getting a lot of mail onthis one lately, and several questionshave been showing up with great fre-quency. many people are having agreat deal of trouble reaching thedoor located in the teleport room (inFinster's brain). This one isn't somuch hard as tricky. You can thinkyour way out of this one, but onlyafter you've been trapped. Anotherpopular question concerns the nightterror. A lot of folks have been wast-ing precious ammo on him. He real-ly is indestructible, so just leave himalone. Finally, there is the problemof servo motors when repairing Max.A number of people have reportedneeding more motors than they canfind. Not everyone has this problem,but the easiest way around it is tomake a new disk 3 and try again. Ifthat doesn't work, make a couplemore and collect as many servomotors as you can. Eventually, youwill put enough into Max to makehim work (and if Max isn't fixed, youcan't get to the endgame, so youreally have to do it).

Ultima IV

Many people do not realize the im-portance of having a complete partyof eight when going into the Abyss.Without a full party, you won't beable to complete the game. I've hadseveral people write to me aboutbeing denied entry at the CodexDoor, and that is the reason why. Un-less you have all eight (includingyourself, of course), the game won'tlet you in. In fact, note that all eightmust be alive (corpses don't count!).

Which also brings up the matter ofthe shepherd, who some folks havefound to berather elusive.Remember thateach town repre-sents one of theattributes, andthus providesone member ofthe party (don'tforget to includeyourself there!). Ifyou think aboutit, you'll realizethere is only oneplace theshepherd canbe, and that'swhere to look . .. you just have tolook very careful-ly.

Ultima V

After mention-ing in a previousMail that it's badto take cropsfrom the fields,I've been receiv-ing letters askingif it's ok to takethe crops fromlob's field. Theanswer to thatone is "No!."Even though lolomay be in yourparty, you stillcan't take thefood. This maynot be logical,but that's theway it is. Also,people havebeen looking invain for an air-ship (balloon)and/or a ship'swheel. Despitethe fact thatthese objects arementioned, they are not in thegame. If you've been trying to findthem, forget about them and go onto more important things.

(Continued on page 24)

Scorpion'sMail

Game of the Year Awards

Game of the YearAwards

On September 3, 1988, ComputerGaming World presented the ComputerGaming WorldGame of the YearAwards at the LosAngeles AirportHyatt Hotel duringthe Gateway 1988gaming conven-tion. Editor,Founder, andPublisher RussellSipe was theMaster ofCeremonies andthe program began with an audio-visualstroll down CGW's memory lane. Then,some candid shots of the staff and workenvironment at themagazine's offices wereshown. After these briefpresentations, thenominees for Adven-ture Game of theYear were presented:Electronic Arts forBard's Tale III: TheThief of Fate—BillHeineman, Michael A.Stackpole, and BruceSchlickbernd (desig-ners), Todd J. Camasta(graphics), Kurt Heiden(music), Brian Far!-(executive producer for Interplay Produc-tions), and Dave Albert (producer forElectronic Arts).Infocom for BeyondZork—Brian Moriarty(designer).Origin Systems for Ul-tima V: Warriors ofDestiny—Richard "LordBritish" Garriott(designer).Electronic Arts for Was-teland—Alan Pavlish,Michael A. Stackpole,Brian Fargo, and KenSt. Andre (designers),Todd J. Camasta(graphics), Elizabeth T.Danforth (additional maps), Brian Fargo(executive producer for Interplay Produc-tions), and Dave Albert (producer forElectronic Arts).Sir-Tech Software for Wizardry IV: TheReturn of Werdna—Andrew Greenberg,

Robert Woodhead, and Roe R. Adams III(designers).

And the WIN-NER of CGW's Ad-venture Game ofthe Year is:

Electronic Arts forWasteland—[Ed:

Wasteland offers in-teresting en-counters via in-visible attributchecks, one of thecleverest uses to

date of skill-based character growth,and an intriguing storyline.]

Next, nominees for Action Game ofthe Year werepresented:

Spectrum Holobyte forFalcon—Gilman Louieand Mark Johnson(designers), Bob Cos-ton, Gilman Louie,Jody Sather, JeffreyStokol, and MarkJohnson (graphics),with Ed Bogas (music).Sublogic for Jet(68000 versions)---Char-les Guy (original desig-ner), Chris Green

(68000 versions), and Bruce Artwick (ex-ecutive producer for Sublogic).Microprose for Pirates—Sid Meier and

Arnold Hendrick (desig-ners), with MichaelHaire (graphics).Microprose for StealthFighter—Jim Synoskiand Arnold Hendrick(designers), MichaelHaire and MicheleMahan (graphics), KenLagace (music andsound), and Ed Bever(scenario development).Cinemaware for TheThree Stooges—JohnCutter, Bill Zielinski,Timothy Skelly, and

David Thiel (designers), Richard Ditton(video compression), Larry Garner(sound compression), and Phyllis andRobert Jacob (executive producers).

(Continued on page 35)

Game Ratings Chart

Both CGW's overall Game of the Year, "Empire," andAdventure Game of the Year, "Wasteland," strengthenedtheir position at the top of their respective ratings lists byslightly improving their score. In the only real movementin the Action/Adventure Top Ten, "Stealth Fighter" and"Falcon" looped around each other in their continuing

dogfight over fifth position.Except for the continual downward slide of older titles,

the Strategy list seems firmly entrenched. "Rommel: Bat-tles for North Africa" is the only fresh title in the top 20,but that could change when "Red Storm Rising" is ratedand "Battles of Napoleon" is finally released.

(Continued from page 21)

Scorpion's Mail

some of those who have gotten far alonghave complained that their energy levelsare too low to perform certain importanttasks. Be kind to animals, even hostileones. Look at them sometimes; they canuse a little help.

Wasteland

I have been advised by a couple ofreaders that it is possible to kill the NightTerror, if you keep at it long enough,especially with a Proton Axe (which re-quires no ammunition). There isn't anyreason to do this, but if you're feelingespecially hostile, go ahead (grin). Thehelicopter is only good for one ride, andyou need a high agility to train for it.Since you can walk to anyplace thehelicopter can take you, you may want toskip it entirely. Finally, you will not beable to get into Darwin Base until afteryou have been in Sleeper Base (which inturn means having successfully gonethrough the sewers).

Ultima V

Food is a problem for many, especiallynow that almost everyone knows it's badto steal crops from the fields (includinglobo's). Unfortunately, there isn't anysecret method for making money quickly.The best thing to do is keep your partysmall at the start (no more than four), selleverything you don't really need, pray fortrolls under bridges (heh), roam around alot at night (when chances of encountersare better), and always have the most in-telligent person in the party do yourbuying and selling, to get the best prices.On another matter, a number of people,especially those who have not played IV,are having a hard time finding dungeons(which are not marked on the maps).They're all in the mountains; look for a lit-tle pile of boulders, which marks theentrance (the words to open them, how-ever, you'll have to learn on your own).

Wizardry VThere are several locked doors on the

first level. All but two (the silver door andthe bronze door) can be opened eventual-ly by either lockpicking or the Desto spell.If these aren't working for you, wait

awhile and try again when your party hasgone up a level or two. Unless a doorhas some special description to it (asidefrom being locked), you can usually get itopen without needing a special item.

Demon's WinterI have heard from Craig Roth, author of

the game, that the problem with theorb/crystal has been fixed. It is now impossible to get the orb before you have thecrystal (which will save the lives of many aparty). Also, he tells me that, althoughthis is not mentioned in the manual (leftout by accident?), you can erase charac-ters you don't want during their creationby simply hitting return at the nameprompt (wish I'd know about this one alot sooner!). This will help you avoidhaving to save and then delete unwantedcharacters. Thanks for the info, Craig.

Hmm . . . seems we've reached the bot-tom of the bag In the meantime, if youneed help with an adventure game (I'mnot too helpful with arcade games, as Idon't play many of them), you can reachme in the following ways:

On Delphi: visit the GameSIG (underthe Groups and Clubs menu). On GEnie:Stop by the Games RoundTable (type:Scorpia to reach the Games RT). On TheSource: send SMail to ST1030. By USMail (include a self-addressed stamped en-velope if you live in the United States andexpect an answer): Scorpia, PO Box 338,Gracie Station, New York, NY 10028.

Until next time, happy adventuring!

Copyright 1989 by Scorpia, all rightsreserved.

Industry News

on't you just hate long lines? SoDdo I. Still, that's where I was. Wait-ing in a 90 minute line to see

Disneyland's most popular attraction,Star Tours. I was just about to go crazywhen I flashed on something other thanmy own discomfort. A familiar Japanesename caught my ear over the familiarstrains of C-3PO's worried remonstrationstoward R2-D2. The name was Kyodai,the joint venture between Broderbundand eleven Japanese partners. As imagi-nary travelogues aboutfictional outer space des-tinations played on theoverhead screens, I over-heard a conversationabout two Kyodaireleases I hadn't heardabout before.

It seems that the nextwave of imports (afterthe three mentioned inthe WCES report inCGW #56) will include aC-64 arcade game en-titled Babylon and agraphic text adventurefor the IBM to be knownas Murder Club. The ar-cade game will utilize asimple adventure format with a side-viewlike coin-op action games and provide achoice of four different soundtracks. Theyhope to appeal to a younger audiencethan most action-adventure games.

I would have listened longer expect Iwas startled as the line progressed past a"droid" welding a portion of our imaginarystarship and the noise of the toolscaused me to briefly suspend my disbeliefabout waiting in an alien starport. Thoserepairs jogged my memory regarding arecent conversation I had with GaryGrigsby, SSI's prolific wargame designer.I was trying to find out Gary's currentproject and he told me he had just com-pleted reprogramming a custom versionof Typhoon of Steel for a customer whowanted the "Banzai" routine removedfrom the game and was willing to pay$150 for it. His story reminded me of therecurring rumor that Mark Baldwin wasworking on a special "Jerry Pournelle" ver-sion of Empire where fighters can safelyoverfly armies. Wonder how I could getthat version?

The line continued to wind throughenough atmospheric scenery to help uslet down our mental guards and almostbelieve we were awaiting an actual spaceflight. We entered the "vehicle" and tookoff on a simulated flight that was likeriding a rollercoaster after being force-fedamphetamines. Even though we knewwe weren't flying, there were plenty of mo-ments when it was difficult to be sure. Ican't wait until flight simulators are this

convincing, but each release seems toget closer. In fact, Velocity Software (anaffiliated label of Broderbund who recent-ly published Jetfighter) is expected to sup-port formation flying (e.g. "Blue Angels"or "Thunderbirds" style acrobatics) in fu-ture releases. Speaking of VelocitySoftware, there are persistent rumorsthat a more significant "marriage" be-tween affiliate and distributor may be inthe offing.

After the StarTours experience,the TomorrowlandJets just weren't the same. Of course, ittakes variety to make a successful amuse-ment park and the same principle appliesto software publishers. Microproseseems poised to accomplish this with itsMedalist International program. Theyjust signed French publisher Loriciels tothe Medalist program and will publishU.S. versions of the arcade games, Al-bedo and Mach 3 (with their excellentanimation and sound on the Amiga andST versions), as well as the popular ac-tion-adventure, Sapiens. The companyalso plans to launch their new Microplaylabel. These products will be publishedunder Microprose direction, but will notactually be programmed by MicroproseLabs, the in-house design team. The firstMicroplay titles are expected to beDestroyer Escort and Microplay Soccer.

Next, we rode through /t's A SmallWorld. One of my worst nightmares isgetting stuck in the middle of that ridewith that incessant soundtrack ringing inmy ears. Apparently that same nightmarewas in the mind of a British tourist in ourboat. She thought those marionetteswere really freaky and reminded her of anew game to be released by Rainbird.Entitled Weird Dreams, the arcade gamewill feature nightmare sequences likebattling roast chickens and other od-dities. Encouraged by meeting a fellowsoftware aficionado, I asked her if she

was aware of Psygnosis' Baal (a battleagainst the Canaanite god of evil withObliterator style graphics) and Ballistix, awild and crazy pinball game with incredib-ly fast play. She seemed rather knockedout by them.

As a software reviewer, though, there isone attraction at Disneyland that makesme extremely uncomfortable. I mean,"Yo, ho, ho, ho, a pirate's life for me!" isnot a happy theme for someone who

depends on the software in-dustry for his living. Neverthe-less, we joined those "Pirates ofthe Caribbean" on their regularfun cruise. Then, as we cruisedpast the "Blue Bayou Res-taurant," I noticed a program-mer who works with severalsoftware publishers. I couldn'twait to get back from the "Bar-bary Coast" to eavesdrop onhim. He said that SSI is hard atwork on the Pool of Radiancesequel. Watch for Curse of theAzure Bonds during the latterhalf of the year. He alsorevealed that Westwood As-sociates, the developers of Bat-tletech for Infocom, is workingon a new game in that style.Tentatively titled Hawks On TheEdge, it is expected to be morechallenging than their first Bat-

tletech game. In fact, I was just sneakingout of the restaurant with my littlenotebook in hand when I heard him say

that FTL Software is projecting a firstquarter 1990 release of the DungeonMaster sequel. Entitled Chaos StrikesBack, the Amiga, ST, and IBM versionswill have priority over other machines.

I didn't get out in time, though, and theprogrammer caught up with me in the"Haunted Mansion." It's a little spooky tohave an acquaintance pound on theback of your ghostly carriage, call you byname, and tell you that Scorpia'sFebruary hint on Wasteland was incor-rect. According to this fellow, taking thehelicopter wipes out the set encountersoutside Base Cochise. "Just think howmany readers could have avoided thoseheavy duty robots!" he chided me. Then,he went on to tell me that he had heardabout that as yet untitled Koei game wereported on in CGW #56. The Chinesefolk tale it's based on is called "The Taleof the Willow and the Pond" and is essen-tially a Chinese Robin Hood tale. It mightbe called Romance of the ThreeKingdoms H in the U.S.

This issue's rumors involve Britishgames, French games, and Japanesegames in addition to U.S. games. I guessit really is a small world after all.

TheRumor

Bagby Hari Watanaiful

Game Hints

Every other issue, Scorpia leaves thecommon room at that famous tavern ofthe mind, "Scorpion's Tale," andanswers the mail delivered to the backroom.

Warning: There are specific hintsabout popular adventure games lo-cated in this vicinity.

It's time once again to look into the oldmailbag sitting here in the back room ofthe Tale. "Old" is certainly the word for it;mail service, sorry to say, continues to beerratic, not to mention slow. So, myapologies for late responses; there isn'tanything I can really do about it (exceptcomplain, alas). I'd also like to remindfolks that I only answer specific questionson games; I don't provide hint sheets ormaps. Now, let's see what we have in thebag today.

Manhunter

A fair number of letters have come inabout this game; it seems to be catchingon. Aside from complaints about punksin alleyways, a major problem appears tobe finding the fourth module. This can'tbe done until you've worked out "the"name and entered it into MAD. That willlead you to the computer, which is morethan just a pretty face (grin).

King's Quest IV

Lots of trouble here with getting safelyout of the ogre's hut. I wish I had somespecial method to tell you about that, butit seems to be a random thing and allyou can do is keep trying (frustrating asthat may be) until you get out. I haveheard that those with the faster PC'sdon't have as much trouble as others, soit may be related to clock timing in someway. In any case, don't give up hope,you'll do it eventually. On another matter,your shovel can be used only five times.Make sure you're digging in the rightplaces. Once the shovel breaks, youwon't find another one, so read beforeyou dig.

Wasteland

People have been asking about thepassword to enter Savage Village. I neverfound it myself and took the direct way ofgetting in, namely blowing up the wallwith explosives. A great time-saver, al-though you can't do this everywhere. Thedoor of the club in Needles, for instance,is quite secure, and you do need apassword to get in, although I didn't findanything of interest when I had managedthat. For those of you being washedaway in the sewers, there is an easier wayto get across. You can use a rope, if youstand in the right spot. Just keep tryingat different locations along the river ofsewage and it will work sooner or later.

Leisure Suit Larry II

The KGB agents on the beach and atthe airport have been giving some folks alot of trouble. The main difficulty with thespies on the sand seems to be having a"full" bikini top. This problem is easilysolved by using something from theguest room in the jungle. In order tokeep things clean, I won't say more onthat subject. For the KGBishna at the air-port, you need an item from the jungle (Ican hear groans from people who havealready been through it more times thanthey'd like to count). While you can'tdirect Larry's movements as he wandersaround the jungle, you can still giveother commands (if you're quickenough). Look carefully at the screen,and you should see what you need.

Ultima IV

I've heard from people who have foundBlissful, and followed her advice, but theexpected results didn't happen. No one Iknow of has ever gotten any informationafter doing the specified meditations. Thebest thing is to forget about Blissful and

(Continued on page 51)

Game Hints

y es, we're here in the backroomagain (I think I'll have to have theplace enlarged; the crowd is getting

bigger all the time). Before we get to themailbag, however, a word (or several)about SASE's (self-addressed stamped en-velopes). At the end of each column, I al-ways make it quite clear that if you live inU.S., you must enclose a self-addressedstamped envelope.

However, every month, without fail, income 2-3 letters that do not include aSASE, or sometimes the envelope isthere but no stamp. Please folks, beforeyou send your questions off, make sureyou have that SASE in there so you'll geta reply. Now, on to the games!

Scorpion's Mail

Battletech:

A lot of people are having trouble inthe map room at the end of the game.As long as you have the manual, gettingthe password is easy. Take a look at thestar map in there. You should notice thatthere is something that sets several of theplanets apart from the others. Once youknow what that is, you should have notrouble figuring out the password.

King's Quest IV

Quite a few folks have been strugglingwith the whale's tongue. It is a toughclimb, especially if you don't start fromthe right spot, which is the far left. Fromthere you want to go mainly on adiagonal until you reach top center. Itjust takes a lot of perseverance (andmaybe a little luck, but it can be done).I've heard it's supposed to be easier witha mouse, but not having one myself, Ican't confirm this. Also, several peoplehave been wondering when, if ever, nightwill come. Well, you can wait around forit, but that does take quite awhile. It'smuch better to get the fruit for daddy(remember, that's why you're here in thefirst place?). Once you do that, nighttimewill come right along.

Wasteland:

A number of adventurers have arrivedat Base Cochise and found themselvesunable to go any further. Don't botherabout the computer inside. You can't doanything to it, or anything else you seethere. What you really want to do is makea careful and thorough check of all thewalls inside the base. That should helpyou on your way.

Bard's Tale III

The death's-head names in Tarmitiahave been giving some folks a little dif-ficulty. You get the first name in Berlin(just walk all around the place and you'llhear it). Then, you go through thevarious portals to the other time periodsuntil you find the place where the nameworks. That gets you another name. Youfind where that belongs, you get anothername, and so on, until you end up backin Berlin again with the last name. Thereis, of course, a lot of going back andforth until you have found all the names.On the other hand, if you are up on yourmythology, you can bypass all that if youhappen to know the name of the death'shead in Berlin (Hint: all the gods aregods of war).

Wizardry V:

There is no need at all to go into theMystery Playhouse at Manfretti's. Disap-pointing, especially since you have to payto get in there, but true. You won't findanything important inside and you couldvery well end up with your party wiped

Continued on page 42)

Game Hints

Scorpion's Mail

es friends, it's time once again tohaul out the old mail sacks and seewhat the postal carrier has brought

us. Now that the long, hot, days of sum-mer are gone, he's probably going to beoverworked soon, especially when theflood of Christmas games starts to arrive.However, it's only October (Fred's favoritemonth; he does so look forward to Hal-loween), so the post office has a shortbreather before the tide rises.

First, though, I must extend myapologies to several readers. Embarrass-ing to relate, I lost some mail. Thesewere letters sent to me aroundmid-to-late July. How many in all, I can't say forsure, but it was something like 5 or 6 ofthem (ouch). This is an extremely rare oc-currence, as usually I'm very carefulabout these things. Unfortunately, it didhappen, and I'm really sorry about it. So,for those who may have wondered whyyou didn't receive a reply, that's thereason.

Ok, now let's take a look in the mailbag.

Wasteland:

A number of people have been havingdifficulties with the cylinders in the endgame. For this, you need four specialkeys: blackstar, nova, pulsar, and quasar.If you don't have them, there's no pointin going to Cochise just yet; you'll get tothe bottom and find you can't do any-thing (or not much, anyway). Also, regard-ing the password to Savage Village: if youclimb the sand hill in Needles enoughtimes, you'll find out what it is. Persist-ence pays off (many thanks to MichaelLiu of Ontario for passing this one along).

Ultima III

Some of you out there aren't readingthe manual carefully enough (tch!). Theonly way to increase magic points is to in-crease intelligence; character level hasnothing to do with it. So if you're stillstuck with low-level spells, it's time tostart looking for a way to raise intel-ligence (and other attributes as well).

Prophecy

Several folks are having a hard timefinding the password to the Tower of Jed.You can get this from one of the Jedistprisoners being held by the goblins. Lookat what they say very carefully; one ofthem actually does give you the word, al-though not straight out. You have to putit together yourself.

Might & Magic II

Orb problems have been bothering afew people. Specifically, getting the orbout of the cavern. This puzzle is certainlyillogical, and it's not surprising thatpeople are having trouble with it. For-tunately, the solution is a simple one, aslong as you have a hireling in the party.

Wizardry V

It's amazing how difficult it is to puttogether a working watch (grin). Ofcourse, if you knew the exact parts youneeded, it probably wouldn't be quite sohard. A visit to the Mad Ballroom ofManfretti's, and a chat with a certainthief, should help enormously in thisrespect.

Leisure Larry II

Some people have discovered that stuff-ing a wild bikini is not as easy as itsounds (heh). This is basically a three-part problem. First, you need the properitem. It can be found right there in theguest room. Second, you have to doyour stuffing in the right place (careful!).Finally, you also have to use the right syn-tax in your command (remember that theparser in these games tends to be ratherunforgiving).