SuperCom

Crash

Rosetta McLeod

CRASH COURSE By Rosetta McLeod PROGRAMMED BY TEACHERS It is interesting to see that my favourite programs this month were designed, written and produced by practising teachers. Andy Watson in Aberdeen and Bill Elliot in Plymouth, have both become aware that much of the educational software on the market is not really what teachers in schools are looking for, and so have come up with their own products. If you expect these to be amateurish, you'd be wrong - Expose and Nightmare/Potholer are both extremely professional packages which have been thoroughly tested in the classroom. SUPERCOM Producer: Atlantis Retail Price: £1.99 Age Range: 12-Adult Although not a specifically educational program, this game would certainly be of use with children to encourage their thinking and note taking skills. The storyline is as follows: the government has failed to track down the criminal mastermind who is holding the country to ransom with a computer-activated nuclear warhead. No-one knows where the computer or warhead is located. The only information you, the hacker, are given is an incomplete telephone number supplied by a CI5 agent who was 'terminated' while transmitting what he had discovered. When the program has loaded, the menu displays 5 options: you can telephone other computers: opt for an analysis of the phone link: read the data which the analysis sends to the information board: display your phone bill: or Load/Save your data. Each time Supercom is loaded, it contains new codes, so no two games should ever be the same. I found this an absorbing, if rather frustrating, challenge, and the game certainly becomes addictive after a while. It is important throughout to lot down all the clues and code numbers given and, by a process of trial and error, try to hack the system. Disappointingly, I found a spelling error recurring in the screen texts, but in spite of that, this is a nice little program for encouraging logical thought. COMMENTS Control keys: number and letter keys are used to input the codes. Z returns you to the menu Keyboard play: good, though it is impossible to delete it you make a mistake Graphics: none Use of colour: reasonable

Hacking away in an attempt to foil an evil plot involving nuclear warheads, you get in touch with a photocopier firm!

Crash

Playability 87%

Getting Started 78%

Addictive Qualities 91%

Value For Money 93%

Overall 86%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Atlantis Retail Price: £1.99 Oh dear, an insane criminal megalomaniac is holding the country to ransom with his super powerful computer-activated tactical nuclear warhead and the government can't track him down - trouble indeed. Who or what can stop him?? You matey-boots, that's who. Armed with your humble Spectrum and a Super corn modem you have taken it upon those sloping, narrow shoulders of yours to attempt to find and shut down the evil villain's computer through British Telecom's telephone cabling system. As you might now have guessed Supercom is a hacking simulation, and starting with an incomplete phone number, which you have managed to intercept, you must work your way around the many computer security systems to track down, hack into and switch off the warhead's controlling computer. Your modem is quite a jolly little thing and has five modes of operation: dial, link analysis, display information, load/save and 'phone bill display. Most of the functions are pretty obvious but link analysis and display info are special functions which, if used together, can extrapolate information from certain computer systems and have the information displayed on your screen. These functions are very useful if you are to find codes or information to allow you to break into other computer systems. When the simulation commences you have only the telephone number 818-771 to go by. The last two digits are missing and it's up to you to find them out, either manually or by using the link analysis and display functions. Once that has been cracked and you link with the computer you find out the number is that of a certain Orion Photocopiers Ltd, a London based firm. Using the information from this harmless looking company you can glean the phone numbers of another three computers, although the pass- words to each aren't fully given. It's then up to you to connect with and find out the passwords to each. No clues but all of the computers have something to do with one another so passwords from one can sometimes be found in another's system. Once you get going a whole miniature world of computer systems opens up and there is plenty of information regarding certain systems and the background of other different companies to uncover. Once you really get going it gets increasingly more difficult to enter systems due to their artificial intelligence... click... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr COMMENTS Control keys: numeric inputs Joystick: none Keyboard play: N/A Use of colour: N/A Graphics: N/A Sound: some spot FX, otherwise limited

Crash

Playability 19%

Getting Started 25%

Addictive Qualities 13%

Value For Money 21%

Overall 21%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Atlantis Retail Price: £1.99 Oh dear, an insane criminal megalomaniac is holding the country to ransom with his super powerful computer-activated tactical nuclear warhead and the government can't track him down - trouble indeed. Who or what can stop him?? You matey-boots, that's who. Armed with your humble Spectrum and a Super corn modem you have taken it upon those sloping, narrow shoulders of yours to attempt to find and shut down the evil villain's computer through British Telecom's telephone cabling system. As you might now have guessed Supercom is a hacking simulation, and starting with an incomplete phone number, which you have managed to intercept, you must work your way around the many computer security systems to track down, hack into and switch off the warhead's controlling computer. Your modem is quite a jolly little thing and has five modes of operation: dial, link analysis, display information, load/save and 'phone bill display. Most of the functions are pretty obvious but link analysis and display info are special functions which, if used together, can extrapolate information from certain computer systems and have the information displayed on your screen. These functions are very useful if you are to find codes or information to allow you to break into other computer systems. When the simulation commences you have only the telephone number 818-771 to go by. The last two digits are missing and it's up to you to find them out, either manually or by using the link analysis and display functions. Once that has been cracked and you link with the computer you find out the number is that of a certain Orion Photocopiers Ltd, a London based firm. Using the information from this harmless looking company you can glean the phone numbers of another three computers, although the pass- words to each aren't fully given. It's then up to you to connect with and find out the passwords to each. No clues but all of the computers have something to do with one another so passwords from one can sometimes be found in another's system. Once you get going a whole miniature world of computer systems opens up and there is plenty of information regarding certain systems and the background of other different companies to uncover. Once you really get going it gets increasingly more difficult to enter systems due to their artificial intelligence... click... brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr COMMENTS Control keys: numeric inputs Joystick: none Keyboard play: N/A Use of colour: N/A Graphics: N/A Sound: some spot FX, otherwise limited