Buffer Adventure

Personal Computer News

Mike Gerrard

RULING CLASS Mike Gerrard tries his hand at a little social climbing but finds he prefers to stick to battling ghosts, rather than trying to meet the right people and wear the right clothes. Anyone can write an adventure these days, or rather anyone has the means to write an adventure. Whether they also have the necessary imagination and determination is another matter. The range of material that is possible can be illustrated by three adventures all written with a little help - two using Gilsoft's The Quill and one with the aid of a book, Exploring Adventures on the Commodore 64 by Peter Gerrard... a name I seem to have seen before somewhere. Pride of place belongs to Hampstead from Melbourne House (£9.95 for 48K Spectrum version, Commodore 64 due soon), if only because there will be numerous glossy colour adverts for it. I you had any doubts about The Quill's usefulness, when Hampstead's authors finished the game using Gilsoft's utility, about half a dozen software houses were all ready to bid for it, and the authors had the luxury of choosing which company should publish their adventure. The reason for that interest is that Hampstead is different - possibly too different for most adventurers. Whether you like it or not depends entirely on your sense of humour, as it's an adventure about the pretensions of social climbing. From your smelly council flat, you aspire to the dizzy heights of Hampstead, that prestigious address in London NW3. Your first task (apart from switching off the TV which is showing 3-2-1, a wise move) is to find your UB40 so you can claim some dole money. The booklet that comes with the game explains what 'on the dole' means for those who may have already attained Hampstead and therefore do not understand such terms. Note that you must attain Hampstead, and not merely get there. After all, finding the location is easy enough, as anyone can get there on the tube or even on a bike (and you won't go anywhere without your bike clips). But to attain Hampstead you must meet the right people, do the right things, wear the right clothes, and of course have pots of money. If you go to Hampstead without the trappings, you're given a percentage score and must start again, or resume a saved game. The first few tasks are too difficult, and bear more than a passing resemblance to Urban Upstart (muggings, indecent exposure, dingy streets). But then they get harder and it's the kind of adventure where you can reach a place and only then discover you should have brought a particular object with you, rather than the one that initially seemed more useful... though what use a banana and cod sandwich is to anyone, I don't know. There's the obligatory maze, an industrial estate, which I've managed to get into, but am as yet unable to save despite trying to mark my place with bike clips, and banana and cod sandwiches. The humour raised a smile or two, though never exactly had me rolling on the floor, and it's hard to see Hampstead taking off with the majority of adventurers who want to kill at least 16 dragons before their lamp goes out. Denis Through The Drinking Glass was another attempt to do something different (again using The Quill), and although it was a personal favourite of mine it could have sold better. Perhaps Hampstead will be the exception, with the weight of Melbourne House behind it. At the opposite end of the spectrum, so to speak, is Buffer Adventure, another The Quill adventure set in the The Buffer Shop in Streatham, a Sinclair specialist. Once in the shop, your aim is simply to get out again, and to do this you must travel through the various departments and deal with the shop staff. Fine as an in-joke, and the kind of thing that uses The Quill quite well, but the terrible jokes and comments about the staff hardly recommend it to someone looking for a challenging adventure. More in the traditional style is Mountain Palace Adventure by John Ryan for the Commodore 64 (£7.95, Ducksoft). It's hard to recommend a book written by your own brother without being accused of favouritism, but its effectiveness is illustrated by the fact that John Ryan hadn't even seen a home computer 12 months ago, and simply by following the techniques from one book he now has his first adventure published, with a second on the way. You can tell from the title that we're back in familiar adventure territory, as the program itself acknowledges: 'Another tale of danger, excitement and greed.' You must infiltrate the Palace to nab all the treasure you can, and store it somewhere safe. Though it draws rather heavily on Colossal Cave Adventure (a headless ghost continually throws an axe at you, and a thief takes your treasure to deposit it in a maze) there's nevertheless enough originality in the writing to recommend it. EAT GHOST produces an interesting response, and as you wander the cloisters and corridors you must deal with a blacksmith, a watchdog, piles of rubble blocking the way, a maze of mystical chambers, a pit to cross, a dragon and our old favourite the lamp and tinderbox. There are a few irritating bugs. You can find a shovel, but if you dig in the wrong place you get a variety of responses such as WHAT'S A ROD? or WHAT'S A N? In one place where there's Magic Dust, GET DUST produces WHAT'S A DUST? None of these are fatal bugs, however, unlike some programs where they cause it to crash, and if you're looking for an old-fashioned adventure with doors to find and guards to bribe, you could do worse than Mountain Palace Adventure. Three very different end results, then, from using other people's programming knowledge, but make no mistake about the amount of effort involved in writing an adventure. Having written one myself using The Quill, I know it takes time, but once mastered it is a joy to work with. Using a book takes even longer, because you're learning programming techniques, not just how to find your way round The Quill. Whichever you choose, there's no excuse for not producing the goods if you feel you have an adventure inside you. Just don't ask me to solve them all...

Your Spectrum

Frank Pelling HIT

Ian Hemmingway HIT

Phil Morse MISS

JOYSTICK JURY Your Spectrum is on the lookout for clubs to take part in Joystick Jury. Interested??? Just drop a line to Ron Smith, Joystick Jury, Your Spectrum, [redacted]. This month's joystick jurors are all members of the Stevenage Computer Club, [redacted]. They are: Ian Hemmingway, Phil Morse, Frank Pelling, Owen Pugh and Monty Trent. The club was formed about 18 months ago and currently has a membership of about 45, with members' ages ranging from eight to 70 years. It meets twice a month - at the Stevenage Library and the Leisure Centre. Membership costs £6 per year... half price for children and OAPs. For more details, phone Frank Pelling on [redacted] (evenings and weekends). BUFFER ADVENTURE Buffer Micro Ltd £5.95 the beastly staff insist on you buying your way out.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 6/10

Richard Price 6/10

Memory: 48K Price: £6.95 Buffer Micro has not strayed very far from home to find a setting for Buffer Adventure for 48K Spectrum. It has used its shop as the major location, though if some parts of it are really as structurally unsound as they prove to be in the program, the staff had better take care. The adventure is pure text, designed on the Quill interpreter. You must search through the shop network of apparently ruinous rooms for a credit card. When you find it you will naturally be able to buy all the electronic goodies you have always wanted. The crumbling emporium has a number of staff members around who, even if they are swinging from the chandeliers, may help or aggravate you in some way. A tip - watch for moody Mike, a dangerous chap to cross. The program style is amusing and reasonably intricate in the difficulties to be overcome. If becoming severely puzzled is the sign of a reasonable adventure, this program meets that test. There is every chance you will be spending a long time working out what to do with a sheep. A sheep?

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online