Knot in 3D

Crash

Producer; New Generation, 48K £5.95 Extremely hard to see how this extraordinary game works at first. It could really be thought of as a grid game or a bozy boa game but with you as the snake actually in the screen but in a 3 dimensional space. Confused? Well you will be. Steer yourself through the white void avoiding your own brightly coloured trail and that of the chasers, twisting and turning to find space to move in before it all gets filled up. Uses cursor keys so AGF or Protek joystick would help. Tremendous value for money, and addictive too.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Crash

Producer; New Generation, 48K £5.95 Extremely hard to see how this extraordinary game works at first. It could really be thought of as a grid game or a bozy boa game but with you as the snake actually in the screen but in a 3 dimensional space. Confused? Well you will be. Steer yourself through the white void avoiding your own brightly coloured trail and that of the chasers, twisting and turning to find space to move in before it all gets filled up. Uses cursor keys so AGF or Protek joystick would help. Tremendous value for money, and addictive too.

Crash

Producer; New Generation, 48K £5.95 Extremely hard to see how this extraordinary game works at first. It could really be thought of as a grid game or a bozy boa game but with you as the snake actually in the screen but in a 3 dimensional space. Confused? Well you will be. Steer yourself through the white void avoiding your own brightly coloured trail and that of the chasers, twisting and turning to find space to move in before it all gets filled up. Uses cursor keys so AGF or Protek joystick would help. Tremendous value for money, and addictive too.

ZX Computing

Documentation 4/5

Addictive Quality 4.5/5

Graphics 5/5

Programming Achievement 4.5/5

Lasting Appeal 4.5/5

Value 4.5/5

James Walsh

PRICE: £5.95 MEMORY REQUIRED: 48K Malcolm Evans has produced a game in which you are stuck in a large 3D space in which an opposing craft wishes to 'knot' you with its and your trail. It is very much like a 3D blind alley. Malcolm uses some of the best fast action colour graphics I have seen on the Spectrum so far. The trails which the crafts leave are shown as large blocks of colour, which produces an absolutely stunning display. Initially it is a little confusing, but one soon adjusts to the idea of perspective. The game finishes when you have collided too often with the trails left. Your status is shown at the bottom of the screen. A highly original, professional and exciting game and one that I could play all night - very highly recommended.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Getting Started 9/10

Graphics 9/10

Value 9/10

Playability 8/10

OK, LET'S ALL GET KNOTTED! From the people who brought you "3D Tunnel" comes another superb game. Knot in 3D is a surround type game where you and the computer travel around the screen leaving trails which you must avoid. This 3D version is clever and well written. The game is the straightforward surround but the screen is replaced by a large 3D space in which you are travelling. You steer yourself in four directions using the cursor keys which are adequate but take some getting used to. The trails left by yourself and the computer are depicted in fantastic 3D and come towards you at quite a speed. The trails soon fill up the space and it becomes harder to find a path through the knots. You can enter a demonstration mode after loading the tape, which provides a stunning display of the graphics capable from a Spectrum. Most 3D games have either a graphics display or are an addictive playable game not both, this is one of the few that combine these qualities. Knot in 3D from New Generation Software runs on a 48k Spectrum and is well worth the £5.95 price tag.

Personal Computer News

Lasting Appeal 4/5

Playability 4/5

Use Of Machine 3/5

Overall Value 4/5

John Lettice 4/5

NAME: Knot in 3D SYSTEM: 48K SPectrum PRICE: £5.95 PUBLISHER: New Generation Software, [redacted] FORMAT: Cassette LANGUAGE: Machine code OUTLETS: Boots, Mail order. THE RITES OF STRING Even 3D maze games can get repetitive. But Knot in 3D contrives to be an interesting and innovative game by standing the 3D maze concept on its head. OBJECTIVES Imagine a three-dimensional space. Next, think of yourself as being in control of a ball of string unravelling in this space. You must unwind this ball through as much space as you can without ever getting back to a point which your 'string' has already covered. If you then think of a number of other balls of string moving through the same area, and whose trails you must avoid, you should get a fair idea of the game's object. You thread your way through a maze you've built yourself, with the aid of rival tracers, gaining points for the amount of ground you cover, and losing points for the number of times you bump into a trail. IN PLAY The hardest part about Knot in 3D is understanding the basic concept. You are a little cross in the middle of the screen - whereas some adventure games make you very cross all over the screen - and the various trails rush up to meet you in large 3D blocks. Your task is to get round/past/over/under them. Initially I found it difficult to remember that it was actually the stationary cross that was doing the moving, but once you've got your brain in step with the way the program's going it's relatively plain sailing. Once you've got this far you can start motoring. You're role is to change the direction of movement rather than decide whether or not to move, and as the knot gets thicker you have to go through all sorts of permutations to survive. Although you can get a respectable score by just waltzing through your void until things get tight, you've actually got to plan to get up there with the big boys. Planning isn't my strong suit, so I had to make do with mediocre scores and regular 'you have been knotted' messages. VERDICT I don't think Knot in 3D will teach you much about strategy, although if you're a maths genius it might; however, it certainly does sharpen up your reactions. Just a few months' basic training on this one, and when the next generation of 3D air combat games comes on the market...