Worse Things Happen at Sea

Crash

Ben Stone

Robin Candy

Use of Computer: 88% Graphics: 89% Playability: 92% Getting Started: 86% Addictive Qualities: 94% Value for Money: 95% Originality: 93% Overall: 91% WTHAS was Silversoft's first real big hit and since then they haven't looked back. WTHAS has been popular in the Hotline and it's still popular with all of the Crash reviewers. The idea of the game couldn't really be simpler, just keep the ship afloat until you arrive at your destination. On the later levels of the game you must regularly oil the engine to stop it from blowing, while still repairing your ship and keeping it on course so you get to your destination quicker. So as you can see it gets quite hectic in there. At the top of the screen is a scanner to indicate your distance from the shore plus scanners for how much robot power you've got left (you have to go back to the start chamber to get it back), how much water there is in the ship plus other details which are important to the running of the ship. WTHAS has stayed in the Hotline charts for a very long time. That must say something about how good the game is and I really enjoyed playing WTHAS it's just so addictive and playable. Perhaps after a couple of hours solid playing I might become bored with it but I don't really see that happening to me. The graphics on WTHAS are really good and the game still rates a Crash Smash by today's standards which just goes to show that WTHAS is a classic game. If you haven't yet got WTHAS then get it now, it's too good to be missed. BS WTHAS is still one of the best games available today. Everything about the game is terrific; it's fun, it's addictive and it's fantastic value for money. When I first saw some pictures of the game I thought it was going to be a bore five hours continuous playing proved me wrong. WTHAS is a manic game which is hard to categorise, there isn't anything like it available. When you see programs like this you soon realise why the Spectrum is the best games machine on the market. RC (Ben) I wouldn't quarrel with the ratings at all. It's as good now as it was then. (Rob) The ratings still stand today and WTHAS isn't the least bit dated.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 7/10

Chris Bourne 7/10

BEFORE THE FLOOD Memory: 48K Price: £5.95 In the latest hit from Silversoft, Worse Things Happen at Sea, you are a ship's android, with sole responsibility for the safety of the ship as it ferries its cargo between two ports. Unfortunately the vessel is not merely leaky, it is a positive sieve. There are two decks and you must travel backwards and forwards patching up the boles and pumping out water. The screen shows a crisp picture of the compartment you are in, and gives information concerning the status of your engines, whether you are off course, and an overall plan of the ship. As the game progresses the hull springs leaks, with cartoon-hke fountains bursting out of the floor. Those can be capped with a limited supply of plates, and there are also pumps which you can oper ate to remove water. You will find yourself rushing madly around the ship trying to stem the encroaching seawater; be careful opening doors between compartments as you may simply spread the water around. The main criticism is the lack of provision for joy- sticks, although you can choose from a set of six key configurations, which should work with most joysticks as long as you know which keys your joystick uses. Worse Things Happen at Sea is exciting to play, difficult to beat, and unusual in concept. Despite the joystick quibble, worse things have happened in computer games, too.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Your SpectrumYour Spectrum Hit of the Month

Alan Grier

Alan Hunter

Alex Entwhistle

JOYSTICK JURY On the jury this month are Alex Entwhistle, Alan Grier and Alan Hunter - all members of the Saltcoats Computer Club. Meeting every Tuesday evening (7.10pm) at the Argyle Centre, [redacted]. Contact Daniel Canavin on [redacted] if you'd like to join them. WORSE THINGS HAPPEN AT SEA Silversoft £5.95 The title's quite right, they do. The ship's sprung a leak and the sailor-robot needs to stop it - at the same time keeping the vessel on course, pumping out the water and oiling the engine. Remember to keep the hatches closed, or you'll perish sooner rather than later.

The water is going to swallow you up and sink the ship if you're not nimble enough with the patching process.

This is the playing area and is where your droid repairs the leaks and closes the hatch doors.

This part of the screen shows how far you've managed to get across the sea.

This rather complicated looking area lets you know what state the ship's in.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Big K

Overall 3/3

MAKER: Silversoft MACHINE: Spectrum 48K FORMAT: cassette PRICE: £5.95 Neatly drawn nautical nonsense in which you must try and stem a thousand leaks on board on ailing ocean liner in order to guide it into port. The ship consists of about a dozen compartments, all of which begin to fountain like mad as you trundle frantically about on your rounds. Once sealed, these segments can be pumped dry in order to keep the tub afloat. Unfortunately sealing plates are in rather short supply and the little sea-droid who does all the work has a tendency to rust up and croak when exposed to salt water. Sailors will have a constant battle against the rising tide on their hands. Personally I believe it Canute be done (you're fired - Ed.) Visually it's the most impressive thing yet put by Silversoft and the challenge quota is considerably high.

Personal Computer GamesPCG Hit

Graphics 8/10

Sound 8/10

Originality 10/10

Lasting Interest 8/10

Overall 8/10

Chris Anderson 8/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K CONTROL: Key, Curs, Sinc, AGF FROM: Silversoft, £5.95 I used to have terrifying dreams about being on board a ship which was gradually springing leaks, and I had to tear around trying to fix them. This game is my nightmare come true. The terror begins when you, a service robot, materialize in the bridge of the ship. This is one of the ship's 11 compartments only one of which can be displayed on screen at once. You glance at your instruments. and see that - aagh! - water is pouring into the ships hold! So off you run, pausing only to grab a scaling patch, and fumble your way through the ships compartments until you reach the leak. Drop the patch onto the leak. Phew! But already the water level's high, causing you to lose power - better get out fast! You leave, but then... oh no! You forgot to close the door, The water's pouring through into this room. Quick! Seal the door and get to the pump. But where's the pump handle? You left one in another room. No time to get it, because your power's running out. Help! Must get back to the bridge to recharge. Just in time! And now if you're lucky you can dart back to one of the water-filled rooms and pump it clear. If not, the Ship's in danger of going down. But... panic! Another leak has sprung! And waters entering the bridge! if it gets at all deep the recharger will no longer work. That's - it You're out of power. The ship sinks with thousands of pounds of cargo on board. Worse Things Happen At Sea is a brilliantly original, panic game. It's so playable you can start enjoying it from the word go, yet as it goes on, you have more and more to worry about enough to turn even a skillful player into a gibbering wreck. After learning to cope with leaks and pump handles on your first turn, you must then on your second turn take time to keep steering the ship on its proper course. And on your third, worse things still happen including the engine overheating. The screen is very cleverly designed: the bottom half shows the compartment you're in complete with leaks, pump, and rising water level. The upper half has a number of indicators including the robot's remaining power, ship's direction, distance to harbour, and, most important, the water level in each compartment. The robot runs around in a rather comic jerky style, accompanied by frenetic sound and some attractive tunes. It's particularly enjoyable watching him pump out a compartment. Doors are quite difficult to close - you often accidentally walk through them instead, which can be fatal. But you can avoid opening and closing them. by a power-consuming mode of travel called 'supa-step'. Many of Silversoft's previous efforts have simply been copies of arcade games. This one is in a different class. It's horrifyingly good.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Getting Started 9/10

Graphics 9/10

Value 9/10

Playability 10/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 48k SUPPLIER: Silversoft PRICE: £5.95 The worst thing that could possibly happen to you is that your C Droid should run out of power before he manages to pump out the flooded engine room. C Droids are the merchant seamen of the future and you have just five of them to help you get your ship safely into port in Silversoft's latest offering for the Spectrum - Worse Things Happen At Sea. The clanking sailors have to rush all over the vessel in an attempt to plug the leaks, pump out the flooded compartments and keep darting back to take the wheel if the ship goes off course. If you do get blown off course, you have to take the wheel and centre the dial on the control board. The bottom two thirds of the screen shows the room that the C Droid is currently working in or walking through. The top third shows all the various controls and the horizon with your ship on the surface. An indicator shows you how much C Droid power you have left, the course dial, time taken, water level, the number of rooms flooded or pumped dry and also shows you which particular tool the C Droid is currently using. There are four different tools that your Droid will need to use in the game: the ship's wheel, the pump, the oilcan, and the plugs. Worse Things is a complex game to play but not difficult to learn and boy is it addictive. In addition to all this, each C Droid has to nip into the recharging chamber every so often to boost its power batteries. Worse Things will have you tearing your hair out as you race around trying to plug the leaks to keep your vessel afloat. Your first trip is the easiest as you do not have to worry about the wheel. If you succeed, you will be given a cost sheet showing how much of the cargo has been damaged by water and the cost of repairing the C Droids. Your next trip is much tougher as the leaks spring faster and your ship can also get blown off course. This really is a splendid game. The mechanics of the game have been extremely well thought out to provide a progressively more difficult challenge that will be fun to play time and time again. Deserves to get number one. But why are all the boxes of cargo marked QL!

CrashCrash Smash

Use of Computer 88%

Graphics 89%

Playability 92%

Getting Started 86%

Addictive Qualities 94%

Originality 95%

Value For Money 93%

Overall 91%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Silversoft Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £5.95 Language: Machine code Author: Mindseye It's hard to believe, looking at this latest Silversoft game, that worse things could possibly happen at sea, but perhaps the author was referring to R & R's Titanic when he thought up the title, or perhaps he was thinking about White Star's Titanic - that wasn't a game! Here you are called upon to safely take a cargo ship from port to port. A diagram at the top of the screen shows the ports and your ship with a navigable distance that would take a few moments freestyle to complete for the poorest of swimmers. Judging the difficulties you are about to face from this innocent little diagrammatic representation would be foolish in the extreme! You play the part of a robot (it's an automated ship this one), and one can only suppose that the authorities allow the ship to leave port with its seaworthiness certificate signed because it only carries a crew of one, and a robot to boot. Boots, however, are of little use - throat length waders would be more appropriate, because this ship starts sinking the second it leaves port! The ship consists of 11 areas, six on the top deck and five below. Each area is sealed off from the next by hatches, and hatches in the floor of the top deck access to lifts to take you down below. The top right-hand area contains a materialisation machine, from which your robot starts life, and next to it, a recharge chamber for restoring the robot's power which is drained by work. The other rooms contain nefarious bits of equipment, but it is the pipe and pumping handles that are important. A patch is also supplied in each area, but only six pump handles for the 11 pumps. The sad state of the ship can be immediately seen on the lower deck where numerous leaks are letting the sea gush in. The rising level of water is shown by the normally white background turning black. The robot has several tasks which include opening and shutting hatches (green or red lights show above the hatch on either side, indicating whether it is open or closed), picking up patches and placing them over leaks and then pumping out the water in the particular room. Of course, you can only carry one thing at a time. Hatches should be left closed as this slows down the rate of flooding between sections, and indeed, it isn't possible to pump out a section if all the doors are open, as the water flows in too fast for the pump to cope. The screen display is very busy. About two-thirds is taken up with the depiction of a room. Moving through a hatch results in the display scrolling across to be replaced by the next room entered. Above this is the score and hi-score (shown in £), a diagram of the 11 rooms with the one you are in flashing (also the effect of rising water), a yellow square which indicates what object you are carrying, a bar code showing robot energy, a course indicator (the robot has to keep the boat on course as well!) and gauges for temperature, water level and cargo value. As the water rises, so the cargo value sinks. Docking successfully at port results in your cargo remaining being evaluated for points. Lives are lost by running out of power, although to help a rapid return to the recharge chamber you can hyperspace, but this might take more energy than is left. Also, the robot short circuits if he's operating under water, and this drains power faster. Should the ship sink, you at least have the satisfaction of watching the event on the screen at the very top. COMMENTS Control keys: Q/W left/right, E/R up/down, T = door/take X = pump/power. There are five other combinations offered including cursors and Sinclair Joystick: Kempston, Cursor types, ZX 2 Keyboard play: excellent responses Use of colour: very good Graphics: very good, plenty of detail and nice touches Sound: great tunes, very good throughout Skill levels: progressive difficulty Lives: 3 Screens: 11 Originality: very high based on concept and playability

...we saw the sea - coming in!

We went to sea to sea the world, but what did we see?...

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Personal Computer News

Playability 5/5

Lasting Appeal 4/5

Use Of Machine 5/5

Overall Value 4/5

Andy Green 4/5

Bryan Skinner

NAME: Worse Things Happen At Sea SYSTEM: 48K Spectrum PRICE: £5.95 PUBLISHER: Silversoft, [redacted] FORMAT: Cassette and paperback (cassette only £5.50) LANGUAGE: Machine code OTHER VERSIONS: None OUTLETS: Mail order/retail AHOY, ME HEARTIES Worse Things Happen at Sea, so they say, but this oddest of computer game titles does reflect an unusual scenario. As captain of the SS Sinclare (sic) your task is to deliver cargo, but the Sinclare is more than a bit of a leaky old tub; it's a veritable colander. OBJECTIVES To make port successfully, you'll need to take careful stock of just where leaks occur, then move your trusty C-Droid to effect a patch. You can also have the droid bale you out of difficulties by manning the pumps. As the water levels in the cargo holds rise, so the value of your cargo decreases. Then the droid gets rustier and may need replacing at further expense and of course the ship will need pumping out before you can set sail again. IN PLAY The screen has a number of displays. A chart at top left shows how far you are between ports. Display panels indicate data like the value of the cargo; the robot's power; the temperature of the boiler; where there are leaks; and so on. The main part of the screen shows a side view of the hold the C-Droid is in at the time. After spying the leaks map, you can send your droid off to pick up a patch to slap on a leak - they look like mini-fountains - do some pumping, or recharge its power. The patches are always just inside doors and you shouldn't leave hatches open or water, being what it is, will find its own level and scupper your chances of a safe, let alone profitable, journey. You also have to position the droid just right, or the patch doesn't make an effective seal. If you take too long about it, your robot will run out of steam, dump the patch and zoom back to the main control room. For the upper decks a power transporter lets you jump between compartments quickly; on lower decks you just have to slog it out, and if you're wading through water the robot power drain is frightening, it's not all plain sailing; as you progress up the ladder of seamanship you'll have to make sure the droid maintains the ship's course and keeps the boiler temperature down to a safe level. VERDICT Silversoft has come up with an unusual and difficult game, reminiscent of Beyond's Psytron. The better you get the more things you have to keep an eye on. It's not as complex as Psytron, but like seaweed, it can grow on you. I'm still trying for level four...