It's Only Rock 'n' Roll

Sinclair Programs

June Mortimer

WANTED - RACING DRIVER, PILOT, PRIME MINISTER... Simulation programs are fun and educational . Among a selection of excellent games , many of them best-sellers , we find one leads the field . Spend your time playing Manic Miner or The Hobbit and, although you may gain remarkable proficiency on the Spectrum keyboard, the chances are that you will not feel any better-equipped for any real-life experiences of wandering beneath the streets of Surbiton, or controlling the movements of a recalcitrant dwarf. Spend your time playing simulation games and not only will you enjoy some of the best games on the market but also you will benefit from the educational qualities of simulation games. Whether your dream has always been to bring the government to its knees, form a successful rock band, become a millionaire or simply to get away from the city and take up sport in the countryside, there is a simulation game designed to help you achieve your dream in the comfort of your home. Simulation games put you into the place of another person, a jet pilot for example, provide some background information and instructions, and then allow you to make all the decisions. UNRIVALLED SUCCESS In the field of simulation games nothing has arrived in the Sinclair Programs office to rival The Forest - Phipps Associates, 48K Spectrum . It is a simulation of that sport seemingly least likely ever to be played on a microcomputer, orienteering. Orienteering is essentially a cross-country race across difficult terrain, to which has been added the extra dimension of navigational problems. Contestants are supplied with a map, on which is marked a number of points, each of which must be visited in order. Points are often separated by lakes or dense forest, so the quickest route is not necessarily a straight line but can be found only by a skilled map reader. An added complication is that the map, and the area, do not include roads, footpaths or streams, and so map and compass must be used throughout. Graham Relf, author of The Forest has, amazingly, made it possible to orienteer with a Spectrum and, more incredibly still, has fitted 11,200 sq. km. of map into the program. When the game is loaded, the scene is the start of the course, on the edge of the town and the forest. Objective number one lies around 100 metres to the north-east and is marked by a flag on arrival. The map shows that a direct route would not be too difficult; most of it is downhill and the forest through which a straight path would run is not too dense. It is difficult, however, to run even 100 metres through trees white trying to follow a compass bearing, so the booklet accompanying the program suggests that beginners first aim for the nearby lake and then for the small flag in the middle of the forest. The screen shows the view six metres in front of the player. It may be lake, tall trees, small trees, a town, or a selection of other types of terrain. Ten terrain symbols are shown on the screen at any time. Turning to right and left can be done by means of left and right cursor keys. Turning to face the way you have come is achieved by pressing the downward cursor key, and movement forward by pressing the upward cursor key. Each step you take is roughly one metre long although, as in real life, your steps will vary in length and you will move with much more difficulty uphill through thick trees than when running downhill across grass. A sight set in front of you shows where the ground directly ahead of you would be if the ground were completely level. That gives a clear indication as to whether you are running uphill or downhill. Running on a compass bearing is not possible with a computer. It is possible to estimate on which bearing you should walk, and for how far, but most players will find that a ruler and protractor make life easier. The forest is an extremely good educational aid for anyone wishing to reach or learn map reading, compass hearings, or simply the use of ruler and protractor. The map is very accurate and there is an immense sense of achievement to be gained from finding a flag after navigating through a kilometer of forest. The program also gives a clear idea of how contour lines marked on a map relate to hills and valleys. Experienced players will find that by following the curve of a hill as they run along, they can follow contour lines on the map, which can be very helpful when crossing large areas of forest. BEST-SELLING PROGRAMS Better-known simulation games are the flight simulation programs Flight Simulation - 48K Spectrum and 16K ZX-81, Sinclair Research - and Fighter Pilot - 48K Spectrum, Digital Integration - both best-selling programs. Flight Simulation allows the player to take off, fly and land an aeroplane. The aircraft controls are complex and so the long instructions should be read in full before any attempt at flying is made. Despite that, first flights tend to be unmitigated disasters. Experience quickly makes the controls and instrument panels sufficiently comprehensible to make taking-off and flying possible. The most difficult aspect of Flight Simulation is landing. There are 13 control keys to remember with which the aircraft can be controlled and even experienced simulator pilots tend to find that number is around 12 controls too many when trying to reduce height and speed at the appropriate rate, while keeping on course and keeping the aircraft level. Fighter Pilot gives the player a bigger range of options than Flight Simulation. The player can choose between being a trainee, squadron instructor or ace pilot. Flight, take-off and landing can be practiced with or without the effect of cross-winds and turbulence. As can be deduced from the program title, other options include not more complicated routes or aerial manoeuvres but the opportunity to kill as many other pilots like yourself as you wish. While both Fighter Pilot and Flight Simulation are excellent simulation programs, the wider range of options open to the player in Fighter Pilot provide a more lasting challenge. Chequered Flag - Sinclair Research, 48K Spectrum - is also a well-known example of a simulation game. The screen display is of the driver's view from a racing car. Before the game begins the driver can choose between three cars and a variety of the most famous racing circuits in the world. As in a real car, there are a variety of controls from which to choose, although in a real car drivers are not expected to steer, accelerate, brake and change gear all with their hands. Moving at high speed is hair-raising enough, without the added difficulty of having to search for the brake quickly among a group of very similar Spectrum keys. NOT A NOVEL EXPERIENCE As a simulation the game is not as successful as flight simulation programs, partly because the large number of its imitators make the idea of driving a car on your Spectrum seem stale. Driving a car or being driven in a car is not a novel experience for Spectrum owners and so differences from real life are much more apparent than when trying to fly an aeroplane. 1984 - Incentive Software, 48K Spectrum - gives the player control of the Government of Britain from 1984 onwards. All decisions on Government spending and allocation of resources are made by the player. Radical changes in spending will not be accepted by the computer and budgetary changes which leave certain departments short of money will be queried by the computer before they are accepted. MANAGEMENT GAME 1984 states that it is "a game of Government management" and so computer owners wishing to become involved in other aspects of British political activity, or to overthrow the Government and set up a different political system, will not find it suited to their needs. The cassette insert includes a complex diagram, demonstrating how different sections of the economy are linked and what effects budgetary changes in any area will have. Students of economics or government may find it a helpful game to play, although it is necessarily simplistic in some areas. It is a complex and well-thought-out simulation game. People using it for educational purposes, though, will find that the help of an experienced teacher would be necessary to indicate the problems which necessarily will arise when the player attempts to run the country on a microcomputer. Rather more frivolous is Millionaire - Incentive, 48K Spectrum. The game involves running a software company and the aim is to make a million pounds. It is fast-moving, easily comprehensible but necessarily repetitive with clear graphics on-screen. Decisions must be made as to which kind of software should be written, how much should be produced, how it should be advertised, and how it should be marketed. As profits increase, the size of your house, shown at the beginning of each round, will increase from being a small terrace to a large mansion. Production of cassettes cannot exceed a certain level each month, so once you have made all the correct decisions and are selling out of stock each month there is no chance of becoming an overnight success. Another problem with the game is the irritating over-use of a luck element throughout, so that making the same decisions two games running will produce very different results. Over-use of chance is always a flaw in a simulation game and in Millionaire it gives rise to the suspicion that success would be obtained as quickly by throwing dice to make decisions. BUSKING IN THE SUBWAY Along the same lines as Millionaire is it's Only Rock 'n' Roll - Virgin, 48K Spectrum. The aim is to make it as a rock star, "making it" being defined in this case as earning a million pounds and acquiring three status symbols. From busking in the subway it is possible to rise. to tours of Japan and the U.S., number one hit records and sold-out concerts at Wembley Stadium. All that takes time, however, and Virgin judges rock stars to be over the hill within five years of the start of the game, or fewer if you choose a more difficult level. It is necessary, therefore, tO take a few risks to achieve high popularity levels as quickly as possible. It is disappointing that once you have made it in the set time there is no winning display - you continue the game until you are over the hill and then finish. VERY SIMILAR SIEGES A similar lack of any appropriate ending is apparent in Jerico 2 - Elephant Software, 48K Spectrum. The game can be considered with Fort Apache - Contrast Software, 16K Spectrum - as, except in theme, the two games are remarkably similar in all respects. In both the player leads a siege, in one case on an Apache fort, in the other on the city of Jerico. Battles must be fought, weapons and equipment built and supplies fetched. Not the most accurate of simulations and not the most involving, either. Success can be obtained on Jerico 2 within half an hour, though Fort Apache is slightly more difficult. Despite the similarities of the games, Fort Apache is better than Jerico 2, as it makes full use of the ZX-81 facilities.

Big K

Pete Shelley

Each month BIG K collars an expert in a particular field to review a selection of progs which claim to reproduce his line of work. This month: PETE SHELLEY Reporter: RICHARD COOK IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE... TAP ON As vocalist, guitarist and leader of Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley put a little romance into the attack of the New Wave which shook rock music in the mid-70s. His love songs channelled the power of punk into a form which laid groundwork for much of today's pop: beguiling music that was as fresh and energetic as any of the system-smashing ambitions of his contemporaries in The Jam and The Clash. After the demise of Buzzcocks back in 1981, Pete embarked on a solo career which has taken quite a different track. His starry-eyed songs are now set to music made primarily through synthesisers and sequences that show one of the most imaginative approaches to instruments otherwise commonplace in today's charts. And alongside this interest in new sounds Pete - along with a few others we know - developed a fascination with computers: the last track on his most recent LP was a program for Spectrum! Pete started with a ZX81. Now he has two Spectrums, a Commodore 64 and a BBC 'B' as well. Although he's hard at work in the studios recording his third LP for island Records, Big K asked him to take some time off to check out a handful of programs designed to help write, practice or maybe just fool around with music. Can a micro assist you in making fortune and infamy in the pop world? We set up the machines; Pete flexed his fingers; and here are the verdicts. PROG: It's Only Rock 'n' Roll MAKER: K-TEL MACHINE: Spectrum 48K/Commodore 64 FORMAT: cassette PRICE: £6.95 Some light relief. This is a strategy game that allows you to try and crack the charts by leading your own group. Monthly turns allow your band to write songs, play gigs, go on expensive tours, push your manager into fixing special deals and acquiring status symbols and eventually - make a record. If you've avoided bankruptcy, corrupt management and the apathy of the fickle public in the meantime, that is. Three skill levels in what's basically a text game, though there is a chance of seeing the group play live! "A must for anybody who's ever picked up a guitar, I'd say! If there's a few of you playing it should be fun - I always find these games better when there's a few people gathered round calling out what to do. I like the pace of if - it moves fast enough to keep you interested. And it's not too easy either, even if the real thing is harder!"

THE SHELLEY CHART 1. System Software's Music Editor 2. Spectrum Software's Musicmaster 3. Bug-Byte's BBC Music Synthesizer 4. Quicksilva's BBC Music Processor 5. Quicksilva's Ultisynth Special Mention (Light Relief Department) K-Tel's It's Only Rock 'n Roll

Crash

Overall 41%

Producer: K-Tel, 48K £6.95 (3) Part of a double bill with Tomb of Dracula; neither side of this tape comes up to scratch. It's Only Rock 'N' Roll purports to be the sort of strategy game where you pit your wits against the established music industry to become a pop star. Having chosen a name for yourself you can do concerts tours, make records, buy status symbols, write and record or sell songs, and hire yourself a manager. With the money you have at the start doing any of these things except hiring a flea-bitten manager is out of the question. Select CONCERT and you'll be told busking is more your line. The song writing facility is the only lively element in what is otherwise tedious and unrealistic. Overall CRASH rating 41%. BASIC.

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