Fairlight

Sinclair UserSinclair User Classic

Overall 5/5

John Gilbert 5/5

Label: The Edge Author: Bo Janeborg Price: £9.95 Memory: 128K Reviewer: John Gilbert Magic has faded in the Land of Fairlight! The great kings lie in barrows under burnt fields and, as the cloud crowded night moves over the valleys, the people look forward to doom. Fairlight has returned, specially enhanced for the 128K machine. No game has yet bettered the fabulous 3D graphics of the original Fairlight - also one of the few arcade adventures which treats every part of a room as separate: move tables, chair, pots and barrels, the only limit being your strength. There are few differences between the 48K and 128K versions of Fairlight. The new version contains more locations, more monsters and a superb continuous music track. Fairlight isn't just about fighting, feeding or picking up objects. Although you can use your sword to get out of most situations it is always better to use brains - and not so testing on your life energy level. For instance, you can battle the guard on the ramparts, kill him and move through the door he was protecting. Alternatively, you can entice him into the courtyard, dodge around him and make for the door - simple and not one life point lost. Fairlight 128 is a fabulous game, full of mist and magic. It stands a helmet and full set of chainmail above other 3D strategy games and is likely to remain so for a long time to come.

Your SinclairYour Sinclair Megagame

Graphics 9/10

Playability 9/10

Value For Money 7/10

Addictiveness 9/10

Overall 9/10

Rachael Smith 9/10

The Edge £9.95 Reviewer: Rachael Smith Isvar grows up to face bigger problems, in the 128K version of a Spectrum classic. No other game I know quite so convincingly creates a world within a microchip... and if you think that your usually flippant reviewer sounds serious it's because this really is an all time fave! Isvar's back and 'is rambles round the environs of Castle Avars now 'ave a more musical note. One of the few failings in 48K, induced by a shortage of memory, has been corrected as a few tasteful tunes are added to his peregrinations. Music is the most obvious addition to this expanded first episode of the epic. The plot remains identical though, so you wander round the wonderfully well-realised castle in your quest for the Book of Light, mislaid by some clumsy wizard, thusly (as they say in the sagas) sinking the land into everlasting gloom. Something akin to an English summer? If you're hard pressed to find the mystic tome, and so save a mammoth library fine, the other additions are even more elusive. The Edge swears on a mystical runic sword that there are new monsters and at least one extra secret passage which could well get you out of a sticky situation, but I couldn't find them. Sure there's a skeleton rattling around at the start, but he's only there to advertise Fairlight II, and I was never menaced by this skinny specimen once I'd entered the adventure proper. By way of recompense there's a grisly death mask when Isvar bytes the dust or whatever it is that microscopic heroes do. But why grumble? This is still a classic and I for one will be playing the expanded version from now on. Then again, I got my copy for free, and I doubt even I would fork out again for all that hey-nonny-no nonsense, however hum-able. As is so often the case my advice is, a) if you don't already own this or you've worn the original out, go for the revised version but option b) is for all the rest of you... save your pennies for Fairlight II which is being designed with the bigger Spectrum in mind.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Graphics 9/10

Sound 2/10

Value 8/10

Playability 8/10

MACHINE: Spectrum SUPPLIER: The Edge PRICE: £9.95 "Huh! just like Knight Lore," will probably be the most common phrase to pass cynical gamers lips when they view the latest effort from The Edge, based in leafy Covent Garden. Despite comparisons being odious, closer inspection will reveal a level of detail and precision which surpasses anything seen on a Spectrum before. Of course, sacrifices have to be made to incorporate such finery... Loading proved no obstacle, and shortly an extremely pretty title screen appeared, along with a three figure number in the lower left hand section of the screen. This number gradually decreases as the code is loaded, until it reaches 000, and a merry (if slightly lengthy) tune issues from the Speccy. The plot is very long-winded so we'll leave out all the myth and magic and press on with game-play. A 3D picture of each location is presented, very much like the Ultimate games of late. The Edge have been making loud noises about a "Worldmaker" which was used to create the environment, and comments about hype aside, it really is very good. You are presented as a fairly insignificant-looking fellow, sword-in-hand. Basic movements in four diagonal directions are accommodated along with jumping, object handling and combat. I was frustrated with the object routine. It seems impossible to push an object from one room to another, which is a definite problem if you find a chest obscuring a doorway after some fearsome combat. When the room is narrow, matters are made increasingly difficult. You can't push the blasted chest out of the way, you can't pick it up, turn around and put it down somewhere convenient. Doubtless you will find the offending object too heavy to carry without dropping a valuable item first! There are lots of unfriendly people in the castle where most of the action takes place. Whirlwinds, knights, bubbles and hooded figures all wander around with seemingly nothing better to do than inflict severe physical damage on any passing traveller! All-in-all, a great game. Certainly one for mapping freaks!

Your Computer

Graphics 5/5

Playability 4/5

Sound 1/5

Overall Rating 4/5

Toby Wolpe 4/5

Spectrum The Edge Arcade Adventure £9.95 In the mythical kingdom of Covent Garden, once people by a fair race, a band of strolling software magicians, known to story-tellers as Ye Edge, conjured up a corny sub-Tolkien plot to accompany a truly wonderful arcade adventure - Fairlight. But once you're inside the dubious-sounding Castle Avars you soon forget about background details like the land of Fairlight slipping into chaos and darkness. The graphics are excellent, better in some ways than Ultimate's latest offering Nightshade. The Edge put it down to "The 3-D Worldmaker Technique". Whatever you want to call it, the result is good, smooth animation in two colours. As with all the best games the idea behind it is simple. You, Isvar, must escape from the castle by finding The Book of Light. There's also the standard hooded old man of mystery who presumably gets out when you do. The idea may be simple but escaping isn't. Collecting the right items is the only way of mapping out the castle's 80-odd ogres. Finding the objects isn't too bad - the early ones at least. The problems start when you have to work out what to do with them. The scroll is the sorcerer's equivalent of an ejector seat; when the going gets tough it'll plonk you down in the relative safety of the courtyard. The bag of gold is handy for bribing certain guards, while food, keys and magic potion should all be fairly self-explanatory. To reach certain objects like the egg timer requires a lot of shoving and stacking of furniture. Addicts of Ultimate's Knight Lore and Alien 8 will really feel at home. The booklet with the game suggests that you examine the cover, opening screen and text for clues. To me the cover showed a wizard loosely resembling Edge boss Tim Langdell reading a radioactive Your Computer binder. The opening screen did however give a few hints; it gives you an aerial view of part of the castle, for example. Apart from its graphics and complexity, it's touches like Isvar's five pocket and the weight restrictions on what you can carry that make this such a good game. Should keep you happily gnashing your teeth for hours.

Sinclair UserSinclair User Classic

Overall 5/5

Richard Price 5/5

Publisher: The Edge Price: £9.95 Memory: 48K Now back to fairytales... Once upon a cassette there was a land called Fairlight, a land of peace, blue skies, free beer - a realm where taxi drivers never overcharged and magic prevailed. Then came war and disaster. This is the readily recognisable setting for Fairlight, a new graphic-adventure from the Edge. Isvar the hero is shown as a moustachioed figure, cloaked and armed. The world he wanders through leaves the gridiron-planned environment of Knight Lore standing in awe, for the castle's plan and geography is as bewildering as a real one. Staircases and corridors lead to halls, cells, gardens and courtyards. Furniture, food and other odd items are scattered around and the place is guarded by scuttling orcs, thuggish trolls and ogres. Those creatures have some intelligence and will chase and attack if you violate their territory. A combat system will weigh up your respective strengths and you must enter into direct action with the monsters. You must maintain your own strength by regular eating - food can often be found in the ores' barrack rooms or the finer private apartments of the castle. Many of the objects can be carried but all of them have a weight. Momentum also exists here and if you push a table loaded with a flagon and chicken the eatables will carry on moving when the table stops. Very realistic and extremely convincing. The keyboard offers a full range of actions including Fight and you are given the option of using a Kempston stick for the movement combat. This is one of the most complete and satisfying role-playing graphic games I have yet seen. There is quite simply so much to do, so much to explore and so much to experiment with. Let's take a look at the orc guards. When you enter a room you may only see a couple of their helmets lying around. Suddenly, the helmet grows into a fully fledged and bellicose warrior. After a while you realise that the orcs regenerate from the helmets. I spent hours on the dungeon level looking for places to imprison the helmets so that they wouldn't bother me. Early on you will find a scroll which will help you to escape when you get utterly entombed. Fairlight is state-of-the-art. It's a classic in every sense - go get it.

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Sinclair User

Ultimate must be quaking in its boots at the sight of Fairlight, an arcade adventure owing much to Knight Lore's revolutionary graphics. Set in a gigantic castle full of towers, dungeons, cellars, secret doors, courtyards and corridors, it's a simple tale of a hero who has to find a book of magic and get it to an imprisoned wizard. Monsters and guards seek to thwart him. Bo Jangeborg's superb graphics system is supported by a combat system and intelligent use of objects, which can be pushed around the screen. Very realistic, very atmospheric - essential buying for loVers of the genre.

CrashCrash Smash

Use of Computer 89%

Graphics 97%

Playability 90%

Getting Started 86%

Addictive Qualities 91%

Value For Money 92%

Overall 95%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: The Edge Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £9.95 Language: Machine code Author: Bo Jangeborg The Land of Fairlight was once a happy, jolly place - but this is no longer the case. More than three thousand years have passed since the worthy King Avars held court over the land from his Castle, and the whole county is enveloped in gloom and despondency. The Light has gone from the land, and the days are perpetually grey and gloomy when once the sun shone endlessly in clear blue skies. Over the years, partly as a result of a series of weak rulers, the social fabric of Fairlight declined - the people once lived happily in a peaceful land, full of music, jollity and magic. Now the county has a feudal system; society is fragmented, overseen by merchants and barons. Castle Avars stands alone in the middle of the plain of Avarslund, impenetrable and surrounded in rumour and myth. Folktales suggest that a perpetual summer shines within the castle; other myths tell of Segar the Immortal who dwells within the castle, awaiting the moment to return, when he'll bring Light back to the land. Isvar is the reluctant hero of this game, which forms the first part of the Chronicles of the Land of Fairlight and is subtitled A Prelude: The Light Revealed. Musing one day on the state of life he decides to enter Ogri's Wood - a wood that is universally acclaimed as dangerous. Ignoring the wisdom of the Elders, (Isvar is sure they must be hiding something - perhaps a great treasure) he enters the wood and is captured by the woman-monster Ogri and carried off to her cave, unconscious. When Isvar comes round, Ogri has departed. The figure of a old man in a hooded cloak appears before him and tells Isvar that he is now on the shelf of Ogri's larder! Not one for being eaten, Isvar follows the old man out of the cave towards Castle Avars. Suddenly an entrance opens up in a wall that moments before was featureless. Isvar is in the castle and the old man explains that he is the court sorcerer of King Avers and has been imprisoned for thousands of years. Then the old man disappears - the figure which lured Isvar into the castle was merely an apparition, created by the imprisoned sorcerer for just that purpose. Isvar is now trapped in the castle. and can only escape by finding the Book of Light hidden within its walls and taking it to the sorcerer. Isvar, the character you control, is moved round in a world which is not only three-dimensional in aspect, but realistic in terms of the way objects behave. Isvar has five pockets in which he can store objects he collects - but each object has a mass and obeys the laws of physics. Push a chair and it will move quite a long way; push a table and it moves less far. You can pick up and carry several pieces of food, for instance, as each is quite light but if you try to carry a barrel you will find that it is so heavy that Isvar has to drop everything else first. Objects may be called from a specified pocket, when they will be displayed on the little scroll next to the life counter, and can then be used. This scroll also acts as the display area, where messages to do with the manipulation of objects - such as 'too heavy' - appear. Isvar's life force is also shown. Isvar begins with a life force of 99 units, shown on a counter on the scroll. This counter is decremented by encounters with the trolls, guards and other nasties that patrol the castle and may be topped up by eating food or drinking wine that can be found here and there. Isvar can fight and kill some of the nasties, using his sword, but other opponents are not in the least perturbed by his efforts and are best avoided completely. Each location in the castle is colour coded - which helps you keep your bearings while you explore. All the open air locations, for instance, are blue. As you leave one room or location, the screen will go blank for a couple of seconds while the change is made, then the new location flashes onto the screen, ready drawn. If a location is filled with other moving figures, Isvar slows down a bit - but in an empty room he can really motor! During gameplay, silence reigns, but music fans will really appreciate the two channel simulation at the start which pushes the Spectrum's Beeper to the limit! COMMENTS Control keys: Y-P up and right; H-ENTER down and left; Q-T up and left; A-G down and right; SYMBOL SHIFT/SPACE jump B-M fight; X-V pickup; CAPS/Z drop; 1-5 select objects; 6/7 use object selected Joystick: Kempston Keyboard play: responsive, but easier on rubber ones! Use of colour: only black and a second colour used in each location Graphics: a stunning new technique for 3D representation Sound: cunningly simulated two-channel music to begin with, otherwise silence Skill levels: one Screens: 80

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Your Spectrum

Simon Forman

Gothic Horror Fairlight is a land of mystery and magic with a castle that holds as many secrets as Castle Rathbone. It's also the new game from The Edge - Simon Forman has come under its spell. Things haven't been too rosy recently in the land of Fairlight - war, murder, plague, famine. You know the sort of thing! Well, now you've got the chance to do something about it. Imprisoned in the Castle Avars is the magician whose Book of Light can make the sun shine once more - and guess who the task of freeing him has fallen too? Got it in one, so you can stop sloping off. After all, you might miss out on the best arcade adventure of the year - maybe the game of the year! Fairlight is a true adventure, not just one in name. There are eighty-odd locations, a mystery to solve and hidden objects to uncover and use. But it all takes place in stunning 3D graphics. Here are caves and courtyard, dungeons and drawbridges, towers and secret rooms - all pieces of a jigsaw that'll fit together to form a perfect castle. You'll soon suss out that the magician you've got to rescue is holed up in one of the towers. It's getting up there that's the problem - your path's blocked by a monk-like ghoul who will not budge. So, it's off round the castle, exploring all the rooms, finding keys to the locked doors, collecting crowns and books and bags of gold. But you're not the only one wandering within the walls - beware the soldiers, trolls, magic bubbles and monks, all of them out to do you a mischief. The atmosphere of the medieval castle is captured by the programmer, Bo Jangeborg using his Worldmaker Technique. This has added an extra dimension of realism to the game that you won't have come across before. You'll find that objects weigh differently just like in real life. When you move an object, leave and then return to a room, it doesn't reset but stays just where you put it. And best of all you can pick up all the objects you find and use them in any of the other rooms. Different from the Ultimate megagames, huh? Alien 8 and Knight lore are more puzzle games - each room poses a problem that you've got to overcome. Fairlight is one big problem - but you'll have one helluva time trying to solve it!

CRYPTIC CLUES If you thought the soldiers were stoopid, just try the trolls. It's a doddle getting them to bash their heads (and other parts of their anatomy)up against brick walls... or tables... or... Just make sure you put an object between you and the troll and watch him get stuck! Isn't that? Nah, it can't be. Surely not. WEll, it certainly looks like our 'ol friend Tony 'Slim' Samuels! Rumours that the trolls were based on him nust be unfounded. Mustn't they? You start out with your life force at 99 but the land of Fairlight is a dangerous place so expect it to drop fast. Eating the bread and chicken you find, or drinking from the jugs is one way of getting your strength back - but they're only worth ten points each. Fighting can be great fun but it can also be dangerous. That's why you must make sure you're properly lined up with you opponent before you start the swordplay. Old soldiers never die, they simply fade away into their helmets - so, don't try treading on them or using them to jump on 'cos they're still as dangerous as ever. And if you leave a room and return to it, up pops your adversary as though nothing had happened. It's all too easy to walk into the bubbles and whirlwinds - as soon as you enter a room wait a while and watch to see the patterns they follow. That way you can safely work your way round them. Your big physical advantage over all the other nasties in the castle is that you can jump and they can't. So, you can duck out of their way by leaping onto tables and stools and doing an Errol Flynn from up there. Feeling suicidal? Try crossing one of the two drawbridges. The monks who stand guard will have you ove rthe edge and into the chasm before you have time to say Aaaargh! And that means game over for you. The only easy way to stop their tricks is to use an hourglass.

HIDING PLACES The only safe way of walking round a room with a monk in, is to use an hour glass. Immediately, time stands still and you can search to you heart's content - but make sure you don't leave the room 'cos as soon as you return the clock's started again. Don't expect to just walk into a room and see all its secrets straight off. Some like the cross concealed beneath the throne will take a fair bit of searching for. Nobody's gonna push you around, eh? That's what you think! The soldiers and trolls may be a pushover but the monks have the strength of two - and you can't even make a stab at killing them. As soon as you've come into contact with them, you'll be lucky to escape with you life. Money, money, money, that's all they ever think about these soldiers - mercenary devils! If you want to take on the guards off your tail, try dropping a bag of gold. It doesn't always work but in most cases it should buy you some time. Some objects are sneakily tucked away where you can't bend down and reach 'em, all is not lost. Slide the lighter objects through and they'll shove what you're after in front of them. How d'you find the secret rooms (Isn't that a secret? Ed). One way is to look closely at the title screen and see if there are any rooms shown that don't appear on your map. Now check 'em out by walking into walls. You'll soon be rewarded by finding the hidden doors. Bubbles are the ultimate deterrent - or at least they're the only objects which reset to their original positions when you leave a room. Yep, just like in the Ultimate games. Having trouble with one of the guards? Here's a tip that works if the room's got two exits. Enter and draw him towards you - just as he's about to do you a nasty with his spear, turn tail and leg it out of there. Now it's just a question of nipping round to the other entrance and dashing in while he's occupied on the far side of the room. Some objects are there for all the world to see- but they're well out of your reach. Don't give up even if you can't get your mitts on them by jumping. Start stacking barrels and then use the stools to leap on top of those. One very nice touch is that you can pick up a soldier's helmet and transport if to another room where he can cause less bother. There's no way you're going to be able to search a room fully with a member of the military dogging your every step.

TOWER BLOCK Remember the well in JSWII? Well, there's one here as well. And this one's just as nasty - if not as wet! The bad news if the bubble at the bottom waiting to blow you away - and the worse news is there's no way out once you've burst it. Your only hope is to use the scroll that'll magically transport you to the courtyard. Now kick yourself for leaving it behind! Never leave objects you've collected in a room with a whirlwind. All it take is one touch and whoosh, the object vanishes. You're still not built like Geoff Capes, y'know! There's a limit to the number of objects you can carry - and that's five. Course, if one of the objects happens to be a barrel or a bag of gold, you'll find it impossible to pick up much else because of the extra weight. Sometimes you'll find it impossible to drop an object just where you want it 'cos the way's blocked. Tackle the problem by dumping your chosen object as close to where you need it than a quick shove'll put it into position. You can only pick up objects that are directly in front of you. Line yourself up and then it's knees bend for the quick snatch. If your life force is really on its last knockings, there's only one way of bringing it back to full strength - y drinking the liquid in the small stoppered bottles. Use them wisely, though - we've only tracked down a couple in the whole castle. The day of the triffids has arrived. The killer daffodils in the courtyard aren't just decorative but deadly. Tread very gingerly around them - if they snap out, you can expect a great deal of damage. You'll find most of the keys you need close to the doors they unlock - but it's not always the case. The key at the top of the tower unlocks a door on the far side of the castle. There has to be a limit to the number of soldiers you can squeeze into one room. So far, we've manage eight with no difficulty by killing them and then transporting their helmets to another room. Let us know if you beat that.

Welcome to the loading screen for Fairlight. If you study it very closely it'll help you fill in the gaps in your own map. And have no illusions, you'll have to draw a map if you're to get anywhere in the game. Just to spur you on in those moments after midnight when you know there's only one more room to go, if only you could find the key. The Edge has come up with a wizard idea for a compo. So, here's the scam - the first ten YS readers to send in a complete map of Fairlight will receive free membership of the Edge Connection. You'll get a free T-shirt, Fairlight poster and the offer of discounts off all future Edge games, including Fairlight II, the follow-up. And tucked away at the bottom of the jiffy bag will be a free copy of The Artist, the graphics package that got such a rave review in YS 15. And if you look at the title screen, you can see why - it was created using The Artist. Not surprising really, 'cos both programs were written by the same programmer. Bo Janeborg!

Sinclair User

Chris Bourne

Across the Incredibly Flat and Featureless Plain, on the other side of the impenetrably Thick Forest, just beside the Stream that Dries Up in The Corner of The Map sits the Enchanted Castle. Haven't we had enough of them, after Avalon, Knight Lore, Dragontorc, and Tir na Nog? OK, so the setting of Fairlight is not promising. There's a wizard locked up in the castle and you have to find a magic book to release him and save the great gizmo from going ape with the wotsit. Don't worry. When you actually get inside the castle you'll forget about how bored you are with fantasy. Fairlight, from The Edge, a division of Softek, is a quest with a difference. The difference is largely in the graphics. They are the best we have seen of the two-colour 3D variety, streets ahead of Knight Lore and Alien 8 for variety and elegance of design. There are stairways and catwalks, corridors and chambers, trapdoors and courtyards in the castle; mapping Fairlight is going to be a problem, as the castle is designed like a castle, not a chessboard with a lot of walls between the squares. Your character is an adventurer, cloaked and armed with a suitably workmanlike orc-sticker for those embarrassing social encounters. The figure moves in four directions and can jump, pick up objects and fight. It does those things a lot faster than Sabreman, whose antics are beginning to look decidedly creaky against this new wave of arcade-adventures. You can push objects around as well, stack chairs on tables to get at high doors or windows, and generally derange the furniture at your pleasure. But the problems have a more naturalistic quality than usual. Keys tend to fit doors - somewhere - and performing various sequences of action will reveal further depths to the castle as secret doors are opened. Monsters include guards and trolls, club-wielding heavies who can be fought or outwitted. Realism in the fight sequences includes comparisons of strength. In fact, every object and character in the game has a weight. Objects carried are displayed on a small scroll tucked away in the corner of the screen, one at a time - the one you have selected to hold. You can carry up to five objects altogether, but the weight is important, and you may only lave strength enough for less. Similarly, 300 pounds of gibbering green trollflesh packs a bigger punch than one wimpish little prison guard. Fairlight is to be the first of a trilogy of games set in the land of Fairlight and future games will take the player into the surrounding countryside. The secret of the stunning graphics is Grax, a high-powered low-level graphics language developed by Softek. Bo Jangeborg, who is currently putting the finishing touches to Fairlight, uses Grax to develop complex screens which occupy only one or two hundred bytes of memory at most. Softek originally thought in terms of a 35 screen game but the finished product could contain up to 100, depending on Bo's stamina. Tim Langdell, manager director of Softek, says Grax uses adapted core routines from The Artist, a graphics package reviewed elsewhere in this issue. But he's thinking about releasing Grax in the shape of an arcade-adventure design package. Meanwhile, watch out for Fairlight, it's got to be one of the best arcade-adventure quests of the year.

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